Life histories of North American woodpeckersBent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American woodpeckers
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Woodpeckers -- North America
During the winter months when sap is practically at a
standstill in the coniferous trees at high altitudes, the
Williamson Sapsucker must needs seek other fare. A few of
our own observations added to those of other naturalists
suggest that during the winter season the birds may forage
in a large part on dormant insects or on insect larvae
hidden in crevices in the bark. If such is the case,
whatever the damage done by these birds to the forest as a
whole during the summer months, it is partially offset by
their wintertime activity. In any event, the attacks of the
Williamson Sapsucker on the lodgepole pines of the central
Sierra Nevada cannot be considered as of great economic
importance, for these trees are there used little if at all
for lumber or for any other commercial purpose.
_Behavior._--Dr. J. C. Merrill (1888), at Fort Klamath, Oreg., found
this sapsucker “shy and very suspicious. A noticeable habit here is
the frequency with which it works down as well as up a trunk, and when
one dodges around a tree, in which, by the way, it is unpleasantly
expert, it is as apt to reappear twenty feet below where it was last
seen, as above. In searching for food it will often work up and down a
favorite tree repeatedly. In all its movements it is quick and active,
and gives one the impression of being thoroughly wide awake, which
impression the would-be collector is speedily convinced is correct.”
_Voice._--Mr. Michael (1935) says: “When the sapsuckers met at the
nest site they exchanged greetings in a ‘rubber doll’ tone of voice.
The nasal quaver of notes was remindful of a call often sounded by the
red-breasted sapsucker. Another call that was occasionally shouted from
the tree-tops was shrill and like that of a red-tailed hawk.”
Dr. Elliott Coues (1874) says: “It has an abrupt, explosive outcry,
much like that of other species of Woodpeckers, and also an entirely
different call note. This sounds to me like a number of rolling _r’s_,
beginning with a gutteral _k--k’-r-r-r_--each set of _r’s_ making a
long syllable. This note is leisurely given, and indefinitely repeated,
in a very low key.”
Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe the voice as “a weak wheezy _whang_
or _whether_.”
_Field marks._--Such a conspicuously and uniquely colored woodpecker
as the male Williamson’s sapsucker should be easily recognized; its
general appearance is largely black, with a large white patch in the
fore part of the wing, and another on the rump and upper tail coverts;
the yellow on the under parts is not so easily seen; neither is the red
throat. The female appears mainly pale brown, with a white rump, brown
head, and barred back and wings.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Mountainous regions of the Western United States and
southwestern Canada south to west-central Mexico.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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