Yellow-bellied Sapsucker vs. Yellow-bellied Developer

Sapsucker Holes, originally uploaded by Dope on the Slope.

I took this photo from just outside the fence of The Brooklyn Bears Garden at the intersection of Flatbush and Pacific. The garden was the designated meeting place for the Atlantic Yards Camera Club this past Sunday. Flatbush Gardener got there early and took several wonderful pictures. He also has a nice post about the experience.

I arrived late, so I only got this quick snapshot of a rather impressive display of niche partitioning by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). The "victim" in this case was a  robust specimen of leatherleaf viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophyllum).

Sapsuckers are normally migratory, so this particular little woodpecker must really love his urban oasis. Not surprising given that these birds are ecotone or edge specialists, meaning that they thrive in transition zones. The garden is an island of green in an asphalt sea - definitely a transition zone.

Sapsuckers makes two kinds of holes: deep drilled narrow openings and the larger shallow patches shown here. These holes are just deep enough into the bark tissue to allow exuding of sap. The sap, as well as any insects attracted to it,  is eagerly lapped up by the bird. Many other species of bird take advantage of this "strip mining" (the lousy parasites), so the yellowbellied sapsucker could be considered a keystone species.

Do the holes hurt the tree? While it's possible that a tree could be seriously damaged by such treatment, it would not be in the sapsucker's long term interest to kill its food source. As several of the gardeners present last Sunday pointed out, not one branch was girdled, so it's possible the damage will be repaired by the tree itself.

If only the yellowbellied real estate developer (Agripeta maximus¹) followed a similar strategy. Unfortunately, the neighborhoods that are being pecked to death are not a meaningful resource for this wily species. There is no incentive to preserve anything, because it has no bearing on the species' future success. Our local government will always be there to toss out more seed.

But I digress.

UPDATE: The Brooklyn Bear's own Jon Crow snapped this photo of the elusive woodpecker continuing his handiwork.

¹Click here for a translation of the scientific name.

Comments

[Rob]

Love the photos, sapsuckers are one of my favorite winter visitors. It's interesting how they create little rounded squares. Pileated Woodpecker excavations are also easy to identify because they create (huge) rectangular holes. Anyway, New York City and Long Island are at the northern edge of the sapsucker's normal winter range, which extends as far south as Panama. "Bull's Birds of New York State" states that they can occasionally be found as far north as Massachusetts in the winter. I usually hear them before I see them as they make a loud, mewing "Quaaeh".

[Fossor proclivia]

Is Brooklyn really outside their winter range?

I don't think so (warning: I am not an ornithologist, although I kissed one once in graduate school). I don't think it's unusual with migratory species for there to be stragglers. Maybe City Birder could answer the question more authoritatively.

The translation service wasn't responding when I tried it.

It's a bit slow sometimes. Apparently the demand for Latin translation is fairly high. I blame lawyers.

My translation would be "big, stupid doody-head."

I would tend toward a Greek based scientific name for that one. Perhaps Megalomoron coprocephalus would do the trick.

[Xris (Flatbush Gardener)]

The translation service wasn't responding when I tried it. My translation would be "big, stupid doody-head."

[Xris (Flatbush Gardener)]

Nice! "Niche partitioning" ... I like that.

Is Brooklyn really outside their winter range? Maybe he didn't make it out in time and is just making the best of it.