"patch on the back of the bird's head, while ""sapsucker"" refers to its distinctive method of feeding. The red-naped sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker, measuring long and weighing . Adults have a black head with a red forehead, white stripes, and a red spot on the nape; they have a white lower belly and rump. They have a yellow breast and upper belly. They are black on the back and wings with white bars; they have a large white wing patch. Adult males have a red throat patch; for females, the lower part of the throat is red, the upper"
"the nest. Territories in less wooded areas are often larger than those in areas heavily wooded. The male usually arrives on the nesting grounds about one week before the female. The sapsucker arrives early in the Northern Hemisphere spring, often before heavy snowfall has stopped. The actual breeding season is from April to July. During nest excavation, a bird may perform a courtship flight. This flight consists of the sapsucker rapidly flapping its wings below its partner. It seems to build the pair bond and help increase attachment to the nest. Members of a pair also perform a dance where"
"the other joining in only when the parent is at the nest. Because of this, the hungriest chick gets fed first. When the chick leaves the nest, it relies on both insects from its parents and sap from the holes they drill. In the breeding season, this sapsucker prefers to take sap from the trees ""Betula papyrifera"", ""Acer rubrum"", ""Amelanchier"", and ""Populus grandidentata"". Other trees of the genera ""Populus"", ""Betula"", and ""Acer"" are also used, in addition to deciduous trees of the genera ""Salix"", ""Carya"", ""Alnus"" and coniferous trees of the genera ""Pinus"", ""Picea"", and ""Abies"". In the Northern Hemisphere"
"Health Inspection Service (APHIS) through the Animal Welfare Act. Sugar glider The sugar glider (""Petaurus breviceps"") is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its preference for sugary foods like sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel. They have very similar habits and appearance to the flying squirrel, despite not being closely related—an example of convergent evolution. The scientific name, ""Petaurus breviceps"", translates from Latin as ""short-headed rope-dancer"", a reference to their canopy acrobatics. The sugar glider is characterised by"
"expedition which collected the first male. They were trying to identify the best route west for a railway to the Pacific Ocean. In the nineteenth century, the males and females of this sapsucker were believed to be separate species. The female was first described 1852 as ""Picus thyroideus"", and the male was described in 1857 (Newberry) as ""Picus williamsonii"". Baird appropriated the name ""Sphyrapicus"" as the genus for both in 1858. In 1873 Henry Henshaw clarified this matter and recognized them as the same species. This is also summarized in Robert Ridgway's 'The Birds of North and Middle America, Part"
"young are brooded more, presumably because smaller broods lose heat faster. After 25 to 29 days, the young leave the nest for this first time, and become independent after about two weeks. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is parasitized by ""Haemoproteus velans"", a Sporozoan parasite that is transmitted to this bird through species of the genus ""Culicoides"". It is also host to ""Philopterus californiens"", a louse. Adults and nestlings can be killed by raccoons, especially if the nest is either too low or not deep enough. Sapsuckers are also especially susceptible to raccoon attacks when nesting in trees other than ""P. tremuloides"""
"downwards, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of ""least concern"". Rufous-bellied woodpecker The rufous-bellied woodpecker or rufous-bellied sapsucker (""Dendrocopos hyperythrus"") is a species of bird in the family Picidae. This woodpecker has a habit of making a series of small pits on the bark of trees leading to its being considered an Asiatic member of the sapsuckers in the past. It is found along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its"
"Oxpecker The oxpeckers are two species of bird which make up the family Buphagidae. The oxpeckers were formerly usually treated as a subfamily, Buphaginae, within the starling family, Sturnidae, but molecular phylogenetic studies have consistently shown that they form a separate lineage that is basal to the sister clades containing the Sturnidae and the Mimidae (mockingbirds, thrashers, and allies). Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Both the English and scientific names arise from their habit of perching on large mammals (both wild and domesticated) such as cattle, zebras, impalas, hippopotamuses, or rhinoceroses, and giraffes, eating ticks, small"
"the female, and red in the male. The mantle of this sapsucker is white, and there are irregular black bars that extend from it to the rump. The lower rump is white, and the uppertail-coverts are white with some black webbing. The wing coverts are black, and there is a white panel on the medians and central greater-wing coverts. The flight feathers are black with white tips. The innermost tertials are white and black. The underwing is barred greyish and white. The uppertail is black, with some white webbing and white tips sometimes being present on the outer feathers. The"
"is detrimental to the red-naped sapsuckers habitat. These birds migrate south and vacate areas at higher elevations. True to their name, and like other sapsuckers, they drill holes in trees and eat the sap as well as insects attracted to it. They sometimes catch insects in flight; they also eat seeds and berries. Red-naped sapsuckers typically lay 3–7 white eggs. The young are altricial, naked, and helpless. The eggs are incubated for 12–13 days and the young are able to fly and leave the nest after 25–29 days of hatching. Throughout western North America, red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) nests have"
"will leave and come back later, when the sap has started flowing from the holes. Repeated visits over an extended period of time can actually kill the tree. The insects attracted to the sap are also consumed, and not only by sapsuckers. Rufous hummingbirds, for example, have been observed to follow the movements of sapsuckers and take advantage of this food source. The red-breasted sapsucker begins work on its nest hole in a dead tree, usually a deciduous tree, in April or May, and produces one brood per breeding season. The female lays 4-7 pure white eggs. Both parents feed"
"Sugar glider The sugar glider (""Petaurus breviceps"") is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its preference for sugary foods like sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel. They have very similar habits and appearance to the flying squirrel, despite not being closely related—an example of convergent evolution. The scientific name, ""Petaurus breviceps"", translates from Latin as ""short-headed rope-dancer"", a reference to their canopy acrobatics. The sugar glider is characterised by its gliding membrane, known as the patagium, which extends"
"Sandpiper Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders or shorebirds. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. Sandpipers have long bodies and legs, and narrow wings. Most species have a narrow bill, but otherwise the form and length are quite variable. They are small to medium-sized birds, measuring cm in length."
"other woodland habitats. The northern birds that breed in migrate south in the winter, and individuals that breed in inland and upland locales often move to the coastal lowlands in winter, where the weather is milder. Winter habitat can be deciduous or coniferous woodland. This species’ winter range extends south to Baja California in Mexico. Red-breasted sapsuckers prefer old-growth forest. They require living trees to provide the sap on which they feed. A sapsucker’s tongue is adapted with stiff hairs for collecting the sap. Red-breasted sapsuckers visit the same tree multiple times, drilling holes in neat horizontal rows. A bird"
"of the genus. The less basal clade is composed of the yellow-bellied sapsucker basal to the red-breasted sapsucker and the red-naped sapsucker. The yellow-bellied sapsucker has a length of around , and an average weight of , although this can range anywhere from . The forehead is coloured bright red in the male (and very occasionally yellow), and a lighter shade of red in the female. Sometimes, this is the only place on the head a female will have red colouration, if it has any at all, as the female rarely has a black head with a few buff spots."
"are not usually used. The typical clutch is between two and three eggs, but the red-billed oxpecker may lay up to five eggs. Oxpecker The oxpeckers are two species of bird which make up the family Buphagidae. The oxpeckers were formerly usually treated as a subfamily, Buphaginae, within the starling family, Sturnidae, but molecular phylogenetic studies have consistently shown that they form a separate lineage that is basal to the sister clades containing the Sturnidae and the Mimidae (mockingbirds, thrashers, and allies). Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Both the English and scientific names arise from their"
"Rufous-bellied woodpecker The rufous-bellied woodpecker or rufous-bellied sapsucker (""Dendrocopos hyperythrus"") is a species of bird in the family Picidae. This woodpecker has a habit of making a series of small pits on the bark of trees leading to its being considered an Asiatic member of the sapsuckers in the past. It is found along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The rufous-bellied woodpecker"
"living under bark and in wood, but overall the family is characterized by its dietary flexibility, with many species being both highly omnivorous and opportunistic. The diet includes ants, termites, beetles and their larvae, caterpillars, spiders, other arthropods, bird eggs, nestlings, small rodents, lizards, fruit, nuts and sap. Many insects and their grubs are taken from living and dead trees by excavation. The bird may hear sounds from inside the timber indicating where it will be productive to create a hole. Other means are also used to garner prey. Some species such as the red-naped sapsucker sally into the air"
"seasonal basis. Insects, especially those attracted to the sweet sap exuding from sap holes, are often captured and fed to the young during the breeding season. The most easily recognized sap holes are found in birch trees during the breeding season. Because sapsuckers attack living trees, they are often considered a pest species. Intensive feeding by sapsuckers is a cause of severe tree damage and mortality, with certain tree species more adversely affected by feeding than others. A USDA Forest Service study found that 67 percent of gray birch (""Betula populifolia"") trees damaged by yellow-bellied sapsuckers later died of their"
"because it symbolized their landless wandering. Common swift The common swift (""Apus apus"") is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar contextual development. The swifts' nearest relatives are thought to be the New World hummingbirds and the Southeast Asian treeswifts. Its scientific name ""Apus"" is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, ""a"", ""without"","
"Apus (genus) The bird genus Apus comprise some of the Old World members of the family Apodidae, commonly known as swifts. They are among the fastest birds in the world. They resemble swallows, to which they are not related, but have shorter tails and sickle-shaped wings. Swifts spend most of their life aloft, have very short legs and use them mostly to cling to surfaces. The genus ""Apus"" was erected by the Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1777 based on tautonymy and the common swift which had been given the binomial name ""Hirundo apus"" by the Swedish naturalist Carl"
"Saw-wing The saw-wings, Psalidoprocne, is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. The common name of this group is derived from the rough outer edge of the outer primary feather on the wing, which is rough due to recurved barbs. The function of this is unknown. The birds are 11–17 cm long and black or black-and-white in colour. The genus has an African distribution and all species can be found foraging over forest and woodland. There are at least five species of saw-wing. The black saw-wing has a large number of subspecies and many of these are"
"The male bird sings a series of warbled notes to defend his nesting territory. These birds have declined in some areas where sagebrush has been removed but are still common where suitable habitat remains. The continued decline of sagebrush habitats in western North America is cause for alarm for this and other sagebrush dependent species. Sage thrasher The sage thrasher (""Oreoscoptes montanus"") is a medium-sized passerine bird from the family Mimidae, which also includes mockingbirds, tremblers, and New World catbirds. It is the only member of the genus Oreoscoptes. This seems less close to the Caribbean thrashers, but rather to"
"winter and spring, it usually feeds on conifers, while in its autumn, feeding on rough-barked trees is most common. Before feeding consistently on a tree, this sapsucker lays down exploratory bands near a live branch. These bands are laid down in horizontal rows. When it finds a tree that is photosynthesizing, then it lays down more holes to feed, about above the primary bands. These form columns. Each hole is started as an oval elongated horizontally, drilled through the bark and phloem layers to the outside of the xylem. They are then drilled further, with the sapsucker enlarging it vertically,"
"sometimes considered to be separate species. The species, in taxonomic order, are: Saw-wing The saw-wings, Psalidoprocne, is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. The common name of this group is derived from the rough outer edge of the outer primary feather on the wing, which is rough due to recurved barbs. The function of this is unknown. The birds are 11–17 cm long and black or black-and-white in colour. The genus has an African distribution and all species can be found foraging over forest and woodland. There are at least five species of saw-wing. The black"
"Paradise flycatcher The paradise flycatchers (Terpsiphone), are a genus of bird in the family Monarchidae. The genus ranges across Africa and Asia, as well as a number of islands. A few species are migratory, but the majority are resident. The most telling characteristic of the genus is the long tail streamers of the males of many species. In addition to the long tails the males and females are sexually dimorphic and have rufous, black and white plumage. The genus ""Terpsiphone"" was introduced by the German zoologist Constantin Gloger in 1827. The type species was subsequently designated as the Indian paradise"
"areas as well. They are assessed as vulnerable by the IUCN due to a recent rapid decline across their entire range. Secretarybird The secretarybird or secretary bird (""Sagittarius serpentarius"") is a very large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Saharan region. Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, hawks, vultures, and harriers, it is given its own family, Sagittariidae. It appears on the coats of arms of Sudan and South Africa. In 1769 Vosmaer was the"
"Common swift The common swift (""Apus apus"") is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar contextual development. The swifts' nearest relatives are thought to be the New World hummingbirds and the Southeast Asian treeswifts. Its scientific name ""Apus"" is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, ""a"", ""without"", and πούς, ""pous"", ""foot""). Swifts have"
"a quiet species compared to little swift, but a twittering trill is sometimes given. White-rumped swift The white-rumped swift (""Apus caffer"") is a small swift. Although this bird is superficially similar to a house martin, it is not closely related to that passerine species. The resemblances between the swallows and swifts are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles. Swifts have very short legs that they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground, and spend most of their lives in the air, feeding on insects that they catch in their beaks. They"
"Secretarybird The secretarybird or secretary bird (""Sagittarius serpentarius"") is a very large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Saharan region. Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, hawks, vultures, and harriers, it is given its own family, Sagittariidae. It appears on the coats of arms of Sudan and South Africa. In 1769 Vosmaer was the first European to describe the secretarybird in one of the pamphlets later collected as his Regnum Animale, naming it Sagittarius for"
"Skimmer The skimmers, forming the genus Rynchops, are tern-like birds in the family Laridae. The genus comprises three species found in South Asia, Africa, and the Americas. They were formerly known as the scissorbills. The three species are the only birds with distinctive uneven bills, where the lower mandible is longer than the upper. This remarkable adaptation allows them to fish in a unique way, flying low and fast over streams. Their lower mandible skims or slices over the water's surface, ready to snap shut any small fish unable to dart clear. The skimmers are sometimes included within the gull"
"Cypsiurus Cypsiurus is a genus of the swift family of birds. There are two species These very similar species were formerly considered to be conspecific. They have mainly pale brown plumage and long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang. The body is slender, and the tail is long and deeply forked, although it is usually held closed. The sexes are similar, and young birds differ from adults mainly in their shorter tails. Palm swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces, since swifts never settle voluntarily on the ground. These swifts"
"Accipiter Accipiter is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Most species are called goshawks or sparrowhawks, although almost all New World species (excepting the northern goshawk) are simply known as hawks. They can be anatomically distinguished from their relatives by the lack of a procoracoid foramen. Two small and aberrant species usually placed here do possess a large procoracoid foramen and are also distinct as regards DNA sequence. They may warrant separation in the old genus ""Hieraspiza"". Extant accipiters range in size from the little sparrowhawk (""A. minullus""), in which the smallest males measure long, span"