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Holes left by a sapsucker As their name implies, sapsuckers feed primarily on the sap of trees , moving among different tree and shrub species on a seasonal basis. Insects , especially those attracted to the sweet sap exuding from sap holes, are often captured and fed to the young during the breeding season.
Woodpeckers tend to be sexually dimorphic, but differences between the sexes are generally small; exceptions to this are Williamson's sapsucker and the orange-backed woodpecker, which differ markedly. The plumage is moulted fully once a year apart from the wrynecks, which have an additional partial moult before breeding. [8]
The red-naped sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker, [11] measuring 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 in) long and weighing 32–66 g (1.1–2.3 oz). [12] Adults have a black head with a red forehead, white stripes, and a red spot on the nape; they have a white lower belly and rump.
The female lays between 2 and 7 eggs, which are plain white. The eggs are incubated by both sexes, but the nesting period and other details are unknown. Like most other woodpeckers the ladder-backed woodpecker bores into tree-trunks with its chisel-like bill to hunt for insects and their larva, but it also feeds on fruit produced by cacti.
The eggs are the second-largest of the North American woodpecker species, exceeded only by the pileated woodpecker's. Incubation is by both sexes for about 11 to 12 days. Commonly the male will sit on the eggs overnight, and both the male and female will incubate the eggs during the day. [ 23 ]
This bird lays a clutch of four to seven eggs, with clutches being larger for birds in the northern part of the range. [11] The eggs themselves are white and spotless, measuring around 24 by 17 millimetres (0.94 by 0.67 in). [17] During egg laying, the female is dominant, sometimes driving the male away from the nest. [22]
The family's taxonomy is unsettled; the Clements taxonomy lists 235 species [2] and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World lists 254 [3]. This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial.
A sapsucker's tongue is adapted with stiff hairs for collecting sap. Red-breasted sapsuckers visit the same tree multiple times, drilling holes in neat horizontal rows. A bird will leave and come back later, when the sap has started flowing from the holes. Repeated visits over an extended period of time can actually kill the tree. [9]