Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Description: 8 1/2" A furtive woodpecker mottled with off-white and black, male has red crown and throat, female has only red crown both sexes dull-yellowish below, immatures dull brown, conspicuous white wing stripe visible both at rest and in flight	Habitat: Deciduous forests, mixed deciduous-conifer forests. In winter found in almost any woodland habitat, orchards, parks. Drills series of regularly spaced holes about 1/4 inch in diameter in tree trunks (at least 275 species of trees - and counting). Comes back later to drink sap and eat insects attracted to the sap. Tree's scars visible years later.
Nesting: 5 - 6 white eggs in a tree cavity excavated by the birds, usually near edge of woodland	Range: breeds from central Canada to Newfoundland south across Missouri, winters south, south east US and tropics
Voice: mewing and whining tones	Diet: sap, also fruit, berries

Notes: guards sap well from other birds including Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, young fed sap, taught sap-sucking at 2 weeks age

When present in Oklahoma: present during migration only in nearly all parts of the state