Hello, tweets.

I assume a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers is again breeding somewhere nearby, probably in the Thornton Creek ravine behind the house. The nest tree they used last year in a neighbor's yard is gone, whether to wind or general antipathy to snags among the citizenry I don't know. But after irregular visitation for the past month, all of a sudden sapsuckers are on the birch tree behind the house about half the times I look out. The visits are often brief, just landing, touching the bill to a few sap wells, and gone again. I presumed last year, and will do so again, that they are feeding sap to their young along with insects. Otherwise, why the quick stop at the sap tree again and again? The Birds of North America account of Red-naped Sapsucker mentions insects being taken to sap wells before feeding them to the young.

At times a bird will stay longer and work on a series of holes for a while, even making a few new ones.

The groupies are the other animals that feed at the sap wells. I have seen Black-capped Chickadees, Anna's Hummingbirds, and Eastern Gray Squirrels visiting them more than once. This is a well-known phenomenon in sapsuckers and has been studied at some length in Red-naped, perhaps not Red-breasted.

It's really educational and fun to have these birds around!
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net