Red-Naped Sapsucker

Description:

Woodpecker with red crown, nape, chin and neck…as pictured. The red-naped is considered a similar species to the yellow-bellied woodpecker.

Habitat:

This bird was spotted in a riparian area in the Spring Mountains in an Arizona Ash grove. According to sources, it is widely spread in the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin areas in mixed coniferous and deciduous forest in the summer, especially in aspen areas. The area where this woodpecker was spotted is a transition between the Mojave Desert and alpine higher elevations up to nearly 12,000 feet in elevation. Generally the populations are stable, and are not threatened.

Notes:

Sapsuckers, as their name implies, drill holes in trees to access the sap within. The holes in turn attract insects to the sap…and sapsuckers frequently return to previously drilled holes to eat insects as well. As pictured, the sapsucker drills in thin-bark trees, such as Aspen, to more easily access the sap. In some areas, according to various sources, sapsuckers are considered a pest. Woodpeckers tend to only feed in dead wood and do little damage to living trees. Sapsuckers, however, feed on living trees, and as noted above return to the same trees and holes for fresh sap. Insects and other maladies can attack the tree through drilled holes, and repeated attacks can eventually kill separate branches and ultimately may kill the entire tree.