Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, male, the female looks similar but has a white chin and throat.Migrant birds are continuing to arrive here in southern NH. We had a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker arrive here in late afternoon. We were alerted to it by on of it's more striking calls, which we've described as "like the music in the shower scene in the movie Psycho." This sapsucker also makes a drumming sound of a short burst then irregular beats, a descending catlike mew, and other calls.
Sapsuckers make a line of horizontal holes in the bark of a tree trunk, then drink the sap from the wells. Guess who also drinks from those wells? Ruby-throated Hummingbirds do. Early migrating Rubythroats take advantage of this sugar source, available before flowers, their usual source of nectar, have bloomed.
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has bred for several years in a row, in the woods behind our barn. We're looking forward to seeing it breed this year. What spring migrants are you seeing arrive in your area?
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