YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS, IN ALASKA

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker( Sphyrapicus varius), which breeds in the temperate and boreal forests of interior North America, has not been reported previously from Alaska. However, recent observations show that it is currently a rare summer visitant and breeder in extreme east-central Alaska, and the presence of old sap well scars on paper birch trees (Betulapapyrifera) shows that over the years it has been a regular visitant and probable breeder over a much greater portion of the northern boreal forest regions of central Alaska

BRINA KESSEL, J. Field Ornithol., 57(1):42-47