Woodpecker Evidence

Holes from a Pileated Woodpecker, Banff, Alberta

When I was on my trip to Banff I came across this tree that had been drilled by a Pileated Woodpecker. At first I thought they were from the three-toed woodpecker because I had seen a sign on the trail that talked about them, but some internet research revealed that the only woodpecker that makes these rectangular holes is the pileated.

Holes from a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ontario

This week the kids and I were out on a nature walk where we discovered an entire tree covered with rows and rows of holes. Apparently they are made by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. They drill a row of holes and wait for a bit until the sap starts to ooze out. Then they return to their row and drink the sap of the tree.

Underneath the bark where the sapsucker had drilled.

I peeled off a section of the bark and was fascinated to see that the holes the woodpecker had drilled did not extend into the wood, but were only through the bark layer.

During our walk we heard drilling and then the high pitched laughing of the Northern Flicker, who is also a member of the woodpecker family. He is a summer resident of our neighbourhood forest.