{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
| status = LC
| image = Sphyrapicus variusPCSL11319B.jpg
| image_caption = Male
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Piciformes]]
| familia = [[Picidae]]
| genus = ''[[Sphyrapicus]]''
| species = '''''S. varius'''''
| binomial = ''Sphyrapicus varius''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)
}}

The '''Yellow-bellied Sapsucker''', ''Sphyrapicus varius'', is a medium-sized [[woodpecker]].

Adults are black on the back and wings with white bars; they have a black head with white lines down the side and a red forehead and crown, a yellow breast and upper belly, a white lower belly and rump and a black tail with a white central bar. Adult males have a red throat; females have a white throat.

Their breeding habitat is forested areas across [[Canada]], eastern [[Alaska]] and the northeastern [[United States]].  They prefer young, mainly [[deciduous]] forests. There is also a disjunct population found in high elevations of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. They nest in a large cavity excavated in a [[deciduous]] tree, often choosing one weakened by disease; the same site may be used for several years. Usually, these birds will mate with the same partner from year to year, as long as both birds survive. They sometimes hybridize with [[Red-naped Sapsucker]]s or [[Red-breasted Sapsucker]]s where their breeding ranges overlap.

These birds [[bird migration|migrate]] to the southeastern United States, [[West Indies]] and [[Central America]], leaving their summer range. This species has occurred as a very rare vagrant to [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain]].

Like other [[sapsucker]]s, these birds drill holes in trees and eat the sap and insects drawn to it. They may also pick insects from tree trunks or catch them in flight. They also eat [[fruit]] and berries.

They drum and give a cat-like call in spring to declare ownership on territory.

Apparently because the name sounds amusing, ''yellow-bellied sapsucker'' is sometimes used as a comic, generic term for an unusual animal.

==References==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=47306|title=Sphyrapicus varius|downloaded=11 May 2006}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

[[Category:Sapsuckers]]
[[Category:Avifauna of North America|Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied ]]

[[da:Gulbuget saftspætte]]
[[de:Gelbbauch-Saftlecker]]
[[ja:シルスイキツツキ]]