Williamson's Sapsucker
The male Williamson's Sapsucker has a black head, breast and back; white facial stripes, bright red throat, and large white wing and rump patches. Its lemon-yellow belly is bordered with black and white barred flanks. The female is very different with a brown head, dark brown and white zebra stripes above and on flanks, large dark bib, and smaller, less brilliant yellow area on its belly.

The Williamson's Sapsucker breeds from southern British Columbia south to southern California, central Arizona and central New Mexico. It winters in southern part of breeding range and in Southwest. It prefers ponderosa pine forests and open coniferous forests. In the Southwest it prefers subalpine forests. The distribution of this woodpecker, like that of many birds, is tied to a certain climatic belt. In southern areas the cool climates it likes occur at high elevations, whereas in northern latitudes such conditions occur closer to sea level.
Williamson's Sapsucker Range Map

The Williamson's Sapsucker drills concentric rings of shallow holes in sap trees, which are checked periodically for sap and trapped insects. It also occasionally flycatches, flying out from tree trunks in a small loop to catch insects in midair.

The Williamson's Sapsucker nests in newly excavated cavities with an average height about 8 feet adjacent to open ponderosa forest. It tends to select nest sites in areas close to conifer-dominated forest with few aspens.

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