Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted SapsuckerThis woodpecker has a scarlet head and a black-and-white checkerboard back. It drills rows of shallow sap wells in trees and occurs in forests of the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Coast.What does it look like?Its head is bright scarlet and its back has a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. These are prominent field marks of the adult.How does it live?This woodpecker has a scarlet head and a black-and-white checkerboard back. It drills rows of shallow sap wells in trees and occurs in forests of the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Coast.It drills rows of shallow wells in shrubs and trees and laps up sap with its brush-tipped tongue. Insects, hummingbirds, and mammals also use the wells.Keeping it safeAn extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.