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Red-breasted Sapsucker

"Sapsucker," is an appropriate descriptive name for this woodpecker. It consumes insects, arthropods, fruit and seeds, but its usual and main source of food is the sap of a tree. This is attained by drilling shallow holes in a tree called "sap wells," and using its specially adapted, brush tipped tongue, to lap up the syrup.

The Sapsucker is highly territorial of its sap tree and often nests in or near the tree. I have seen maple trees with so many Sapsucker holes in it that portions of the tree above the holes were dying because of the loss of sap. Josephine Co., OR

 

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Uploaded on October 19, 2025
Taken on August 15, 2025