The yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is named for its dull yellowish belly. Sapsuckers get their name from their habit of boring holes into the cambium layer or inner bark, letting the sap exude and run down the trunk. The birds wipe up or suck the oozing sap with their brush-like tongues. Like most woodpeckers, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is primarily a forest and woodland species. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker breeds from Central Alaska to Newfoundland to North Carolina. It winters in south-eastern quarter of the United States, southwards to Panama and West Indies.
