Williamson’s Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus thyroideus

The Williamson’s Sapsucker breeds in open forested areas with conifers, mainly ponderosa pine and fir. The males and females look so much different; They were believed to be different species when first discovered by John Cassin in 1852. A generation later in 1873, Henry Wetherby Henshaw was the first to recognize that the two ‘species’ were one.

The rapid disappearance of mature forests in British Columbia has taken a toll on these birds. They were declared “endangered” there in 2005.