ID Keys: Male black with white wing patch and rump, yellow belly,
and thin white facial stripes.
Williamson's
Sapsuckers are generally found in the mountains of the western United
States, and are only extremely rare visitors to South Dakota. The male
and female of the species have strikingly different plumages, so much so
that they were once thought to be different species. As with other
sapsucker species, they drill "wells" in trees, feeding both on the sap that
seeps out, and the insects attracted to the sap. The photo to the right
depicts a Williamson's Sapsucker on a pine tree with sapsucker wells shown at
the top of the photo.
Habitat
Found
in mountainous conifer forests during the summer breeding season. Winters
in lower-elevation pine and pine/oak forests.
Diet
Eats many insects and tree sap, and also feeds on fruits
and berries.
Behavior
Drills typical sapsucker wells, taking
both sap and trapped insects from the wells. Will also climb through
foliage and branches in search of insects, fruits, and berries, hop along
the ground in search of insects (especially ants), or occasionally fly out
from a perch to catch passing insects in mid-air.
Breeding
Non-breeder in South Dakota.
Song
Usually silent, although they have a loud harsh screech similar to that of a Red-tailed
Hawk's.
Migration
Summers throughout the mountains of the
western United States. Most move southward along the Rockies for the
winter, going as far as west-central Mexico. Some are semi-permanent
residents, only moving to lower elevations in the winter.
