Some of the first migrating birds to appear in our yard this spring were several Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. They spent a lot of time in the surrounding hickory trees. Hickories have high sugar concentrations in their sap which the sapsuckers find favorable.
The fact that sapsuckers tend to pick sick trees bothers me a bit. One of the hickories bordering our yard is looking a little worse for the wear, and that’s where the birds spent most of their time during their migration layover.
A number of years ago a sapsucker made mincemeat of our apple tree. Soon after, we had to remove it because it was so worn out and diseased. The sapsucker didn’t cause the tree to get sick, but it definitely served as a warning sign that the tree was on its way out.
Perhaps the sapsuckers were only picking insects out of the hickory bark, but I’ll be looking at that tree a little more suspiciously now.