The yellow-bellied sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States.
Image: Yellow bellied sapsucker in CP (40484)
Image: Yellow bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) female
Holes in a dying white birch, Jacques-Cartier National Park
Yellow-bellied sapsucker girdling a holly tree
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti. Woodpeckers are known as the loudest birds of the forest.
Woodpecker
A black-rumped flameback using its tail for support
Diagram showing the hyoid bone of Dendrocopos major
Use of cacti for breeding and roosting holes allows some woodpeckers to live in treeless deserts, such as the ladder-backed woodpecker, which uses cacti for nesting.