GardenLine | Common Saskatchewan Pests | Sapsucker Damage

Woodpeckers and Sapsuckers are often confused with each other and blamed for the damage the other did. If the holes you are noticing are in a horizontal rows and regularly spaced, the culprit is likely the yellow-bellied sapsucker.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers attack only living trees. In forested areas they feed on a wide variety of deciduous and coniferous trees. In an urban environment they seem to prefer birch, linden, blue spruce, Scots pine, and Siberian elm. Unlike woodpeckers, sapsuckers do not drill these holes in search of grubs. They are more interested in drinking the sap as it oozes into the holes. As one row of holes dries up, another row is drilled.

Sapsuckers are a migratory bird. Although colors vary between individual birds, their yellowish abdomens readily identify them. The mature bird has a red crown and throat bordered by black and white bands above and below the eye extending onto the neck. They like to nest well above the ground in the heartwood of dead or partly dead trees. They are a territorial bird and may return year after year to the same nesting spot if their food supply is abundant.

Hanging noisemakers and fluttering objects in the trees may prevent serious damage.

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Sustainable horticultural information, offered free of charge to the public with the support of the University of Saskatchewan Extension Division, the Department of Plant Sciences and the Provincial Government.