An amazing relationship exists between migrating yellow-bellied sapsucker and the ruby-throated hummingbird. It seems that yellow-bellied sapsuckers help fuel the ruby-hummingbird’s migration northward each spring.

       Beginning in March each year yellow-bellied sapsuckers leave the Peach State and begin flying home to their breeding grounds in eastern Canada and our northeastern states. As the sapsuckers make their way northward, they often stop every so often and feed for a couple of weeks or so before moving on.  As expected, at each stopover area the birds chisel out numerous sap wells in a variety of trees.  This provides them with an energy-rich source of fuel that will enable them to complete their long journey.

       Often ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate to their northern breeding grounds some two to three after the sapsuckers leave.  Since they are heading north at a time when nectar plants are typically in short supply, food is often at a premium. 

      While hummingbird fanciers that hang hummingbird feeders outside their homes in late winter and early spring help feed the migrants along the way, they alone cannot provide enough food for all of the migrating birds.

       Here is where yellow-bellied sapsucker plays an important role in feeding ruby-throated hummingbirds that are also flying north.  The tiny rubythroats dine on the sucrose and amino acid-laden tree sap they obtain from sapsucker wells.  Sapsuckers drill lots of holes whenever they locate an excellent source of tree sap.  Consequently, when they abandon these sap wells to resume their journey home they unwittingly leave behind a valuable source of food needed by tiny hummers that are following behind them.

       Once again, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.