Botanical Glossary - Home

This brave little Red-breasted Sapsucker is busy at work hunting for bugs, totally oblivious that I stood within 8 feet of this little beauty - I would move to adjust my position and he would cock his head to see if I was a threat, then go back to his pecking. Sapsuckers have long been known to do plenty of damage to trees by pecking shallow holes in trees through the bark so that sap oozes forth as part of their meal. The sapsucker is black with white spots on back and wings, with a white wing patch and red breast and head (Males and females are similar in color and patterns). It's white rump is visible in flight.