sphyrapicus (from sphyra, a hammer, and picus, a woodpecker) varius (variegated)
Wednesday, October 3, 1979 — 3:30 pm
Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center
I spotted two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in a large tree on the dam on Bulrush Pond. They were hitching backwards down the trunk, pecking as they went. Moments later, a White-breasted Nuthatch came over and joined them in the tree. Also in the same tree were a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Common Grackle, and a Northern Flicker.