Linette

by Linette
(Battle Creek, MI)

How do you keep Yellow Bellied Sap Suckers out of a Hummingbird feeder? One little guy drained two of my feeders in a day, a lot of it went on the ground too.


Comment
Yellow bellied sapsuckers love the sap from maple trees, and drill holes in the trees for the sap. Much to their dismay they often find bees, wasps, hummingbirds, butterflies and squirrels helping themselves to the liquid that drips from each hole they've drilled.

Do you think your sapsuckers are seeking a wee bit of revenge?

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers like suet, doughnuts, grape jelly and yes sugar-water.

The yellow-bellied sapsucker prefers tree-trunk feeders in the form of small trays and suet holders. It will also come to hanging log type feeders.
So your options are;
a) put out one of these kind of feeders for the sapsuckers
b) keep refilling the hummingbird feeder and enjoy those beautiful -if not sometimes annoying - birds.
Good birding.
Susan