Most woodpeckers feed on wood-boring insects, insects on trees and the ground, vegetable matter, berries, or tree sap. Both birds use their beaks to tap on tree trunks to make holes. Sapsucker holes on pecan. The sapsucker will drill a series of holes into a tree. If you have ever noticed small holes, made in neat rows on the trunk of a tree, you are probably looking at the damage caused from a yellow bellied sapsucker. Damage is usually not severe enough to cause significant long term damage to the tree. or smaller), the best thing you can do for your tree is to not do anything to repair it. The sapsucker is a serious tree pest. I did a search on "Sapsucker Damage" and hit on several good articles in the first few hits. Sapsucker damage shouldn’t be mistaken for insect damage. Sapsuckers not only injure the tree; they also damage the wood. Woodpecker tree damage can cause trees to become diseased or even to die. The sapsuckers don’t seem to do any permanent damage. Steve Nix is a natural resources consultant and a former forest resources analyst for the state of Alabama. Keep reading to learn more about how to prevent woodpecker damage and the steps for repairing woodpecker damage once it has happened. When looking for insects, only a few pecks at a time are made. Repeated damage by sapsucker woodpeckers over the previous few years. The American yellow-bellied sapsucker can attack, kill trees, and seriously degrade wood quality. Sapsucker damage can also provide entrée for pathogens and insects, making trees more susceptible to fungus in particular. Sapsuckers have a tendency to form lots of small holes in horizontal lines. Sounds like an invasion of harmful, tree-killing insects, but sapsuckers–a type of woodpecker–are a common bird in Washington State. Sapsuckers attack only living trees. The insect-eating woodpecker (family Picidae) has a long tongue — in many cases as long as the woodpecker itself — that can be quickly extended forward to capture insects from the inner and outer bark. In addition, we can see scars where the tree has been worked in paste years. Unfortunately, sapsucker damage is a common cause of tree damage and is easy to identify. Thus, it is important that you repair the damage before disease or other animals become attracted to the sap seeping from the tree. We do recommend preventing such damage by wrapping your tree with a tree wrap but this advice comes with a caution. Unless your pine is in an area where sapsuckers overwinter, the … garden center for other options that may discourage Figure 3. Bartlett research The tree wounds may attract insects, squirrels, or porcupines and can serve as entrances for diseases and wood decaying organisms. These are relatively recent feeding sites from a Sapsucker woodpecker. Wood decay, stain fungi, and bacteria may enter through the feeding holes. 2 1 1 112. Sapsucker holes on Viburnum. Recognizing Sapsucker Damage to Your Trees. … Sapsucker damage on ginkgo trunk Damage done by squirrels or other rodents. hide. The sapsucker woodpecker tends to do the … I've just noticed holes pecked into the bark in a pattern of rows. Sapsuckers peck holes in the bark of the tree that are approximately 1/4 inch … People often believe the damage to be caused by “borers” — insects that bore in trees — but the culprit is a bird known as a sapsucker. Department of Agriculture. The sapsucker should continue to find the suet and feed from it and after approximately 12 to 15 days the suet feeder should be at the edge of your property … Woodpeckers tend to feed only on dead or dying wood and are generally considered harmless to a tree. Looks like a fresh scarification piece... PIC nsfw. Both birds seem to really love young live oaks, although I have often seen sapsucker damage on older live oaks. Puncture wounds (one eighth of an inch in diameter) and the resulting sap flow are the most obvious symptoms. Before making repairs to the tree, you should check to see if there is any bug infestation. However, in prairie and urban areas where trees are planted for ornamental and shelterbelt purposes, they seem to prefer birches, Colorado spruce, Scots pine and Siberian elm.