Sisters Country birds

Red-breasted sapsucker [Sphyrapicus ruber] drills feeding holes in mostly deciduous trees. The holes ooze sap and attract insects, especially ants, which in summer are 80 percent of the sapsuckers diet. The sap itself is also consumed, and hummingbirds will follow sapsuckers and feed on the same sap holes.

The red-breasted sapsucker prefers dead snags for its nesting site and will use the same tree for several years, drilling a new nest hole each season. The nest contains no nesting material, and the male does all the night-time incubating of four to seven eggs. Often they can be heard chattering in aspen groves as they follow each other to their feeding trees.

The accompanying photo was taken at Calliope Crossing north of Sisters. For more sapsucker photos, visit http://abirdsingsbecauseithasasong.com/recent-journeys.