This info paragraph is taken from allaboutbirds.org

Red-breasted Sapsuckers eat sap, insects and other arthropods, fruit, and seeds. Their tongues are shorter than those of other woodpeckers, with brushy tips that help them lap up sap. They spend far less time drilling into wood than many other woodpeckers [do], and instead pick insects (especially ants and beetles) from crevices in the bark or from sapwells. They also fly out to catch insects in midair.

It seems as if these sapsuckers show up here around Christmas time. I did another blog post about them five years ago when they showed up in my backyard. https://wordsfromanneli.com/2016/12/17/a-christmas-tree-party/

Now, desperate for food, they must be finding what they need in the big firs in our area. I took this picture one day last week.

A day or two later, he had hit a window at my neighbour’s house. Luckily they managed to save him after a bit of R&R time in their avian intensive care unit. See the bird resting below.

 

All I wanted was to fly

Higher up into the sky.

Now my neck is oh so sore,

Thought that window was a door.

 

Giant branches of the trees,

Beckoned me to “Fly up please,

Pick these insects off my bark,

Go ahead and work ’til dark.”

 

But between the trees and me

Shiny glass I did not see.

Like a wall it smacked me down,

Dizzy trees spun all around.

 

Then a lady picked me up,

With her hands shaped like a cup,

Put me in a warm, soft box,

I was trapped, but not with locks.

 

Somehow I was free to go,

Once my neck stopped paining so,

With a squeak I called goodbye,

Then flew up into the sky.

 

Thank you, lady, thanks so much,

For your kind and gentle touch,

But remember for next time,

I prefer my glass with grime.

 

***** If you are interested in writing, grammar, copy-editing, books, etc., why not check out my other blog which is dedicated to that kind of thing? https://annelisplace.wordpress.com/