Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

I heard this bird first - they sound rather like a cat mewing - and then managed to locate him in our big magnolia (magnolia grandiflora) tree. Like the red-bellied woodpecker, the yellow belly of this bird is not exactly its most noticeable characteristic - it's more of a pale wash of yellow. But hey. Anyway, I wonder if they eat the bright red magnolia seeds? He - this is a male - was definitely pecking at something in that seed head - be it the seeds themselves or some kind of insect. 

From the Cornell site: The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker makes two kinds of holes in trees to harvest sap. Round holes extend deep in the tree and are not enlarged. The sapsucker inserts its bill into the hole to probe for sap. Rectangular holes are shallower, and must be maintained continually for the sap to flow. The sapsucker licks the sap from these holes, and eats the cambium of the tree too. New holes usually are made in a line with old holes, or in a new line above the old.


A thing I just learned is that they are not year round residents here! He's here for the winter, but they breed way up north in Canada. How did I not know that? HA!