I shot several photos of this bird (Orange-crowned Warbler, I think?) yesterday and I really didn't notice the carvings on the tree until I got home to process. It was shot in a piney woods area about 50 miles north of Houston, Texas. I don't think warblers do this type of carving, do they? The warbler does seem to be getting some insects. Any thoughts as to what actually made the carvings (if not the warbler)?
Last edited by Patti Edens; 01-25-2010 at 07:37 PM.
The YBS holes I have seen are smaller and deeper into the wood. This looks like just the bark removed. At first I thought a kid with a pocket knife, but it was too high in the tree. We do have Pileated Woodpeckers on the property. I wonder if they did it?
Not sure exactly what species did this, but it was definitely a woodpecker of some sort. The warbler is probably feeding on sap. Both warblers and hummingbirds will feed from sapsucker wells when other food sources are scarce.
I know that porcupines eat bark..but I've never seen them do it in patches..sapsucker usually punch small round holes in tree...would love to know what did this..
Thanks for the info. I didn't even think of the possibility of porcupines or squirrels. I'll do some more googling on those two. The pattern is a little different from the link, but a lot closer to anything I've seen for sapsuckers.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker it is (as Ilija said from the start - good call!). A couple of better google searchers that I am found the following links that look just like the damage I saw. They claim that the damage was done by the YBS.
Who Did the Tree Carving? Answer below
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