Outside on a very quiet afternoon. No sounds at all except for a call that is not familiar at all to me. Sort of a quick nasally mewy sound. I’m hearing this sound maybe once every couple minutes. Finally I see the source of the calls.

It’s a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) further up in the woods making the sound. They’re here for the winter. Drilling sapwells into trees that provide sap for their consumption and those sapwells also trap insects which they eat too. Another bird that benefits from these sapwells, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird will also sip the sap in early spring before there are many flowers in bloom.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!