Abstract
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is the only true migratory woodpecker in eastern North America. It overwinters in Mexico and the southern United States, including western North Carolina. During the winter, sapsuckers drill small circular wells into sapwood in pursuit of xylem sap. The goal of this study was to understand the host tree preference of overwintering Yellow-bellied sapsuckers in the Southern Appalachians. I located sapsucker host trees and compared them with the closest non-host tree with the same canopy class. Sapsuckers did not prefer any specific tree species. I found drillholes on 18 host tree species, compared with 21 non-host tree species, showing that sapsuckers are generalist feeders. Host trees selected by sapsuckers were significantly larger (DBH = 55.2 cm) than non-host trees (DBH = 44.8 cm). Despite their larger size, host trees were more likely to have a crown class of B or C (52.1%) while non-host trees were more likely to have a crown class of A or B (87.5%), indicating that host trees were more likely to have lost branches. More long-term monitoring of Yellow-bellied sapsuckers is necessary to understand their effects on tree health.
How to Cite
Herzig, D. C., (2021) “Host Tree Selection by Overwintering Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius) in Western North Carolina”, Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship 34(2).
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