Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various North and Central American woodpeckers of the genus Sphyrapicus that drill holes in certain trees to drink the sap and eat insects attracted to it, especially S. varius, the common species in the east, and S. ruber, found along the west coast.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The popular name in the United States of all the small spotted woodpeckers: so called from being supposed to suck the sap of trees.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
woodpecker of the eastern United States (of thegenus Sphyrapicus ) that feeds mainly on thesap of trees - noun Any woodpecker that punctures the bark of trees and feeds upon the sap.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun small American woodpecker that feeds on sap from e.g. apple and maple trees
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The individual of whom I speak is, properly, the yellow-bellied woodpecker, though he is more commonly known as the sapsucker, in some places the squealing sapsucker; and I hailed with joy his presence in a certain protected bit of woods, a little paradise for birds and bird lovers, where, if anywhere, he could be studied.
Little Brothers of the Air Olive Thorne Miller 1874
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My oldest daughter who has an amazing memory for all things bugs and birds, informs me that it's actually called a sapsucker ....
Progressive Bloggers 2009
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My oldest daughter who has an amazing memory for all things bugs and birds, informs me that it's actually called a sapsucker ....
Progressive Bloggers 2009
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We knew him well, however -- the yellow-bellied woodpecker, or "sapsucker," as he was called in the vicinity.
Little Brothers of the Air Olive Thorne Miller 1874
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Jonathan; but "sapsucker" is, in the opinion of many who have studied his ways, undeserved.
Little Brothers of the Air Olive Thorne Miller 1874
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If we don't take heed now and prepare for the future, never mind saving the yellow-bellied sapsucker, the most endangered species will be us.
Maggie Van Ostrand: From Conspicuous Consumption to Conspicuous Frugality 2009
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I'll answer for you -- a linguini-spined yellow-bellied sapsucker that doesn't have the guts to make a decision as to what his or her core values are.
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Some of the more common birds are the northern pygmy-owl, olive warbler, red-faced warbler, hepatic tanager, mountain bluebird, pygmy nuthatch, white-breasted nuthatch, Mexican junco, Steller's jay, red-shafted flicker and the Rocky Mountain sapsucker.
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Common summer resident birds include the white-throated sparrow, northern junco, and yellow-bellied sapsucker.
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We had a pine tree with that formation of holes, even saw the sapsucker pecking at it, and the tree died shortly after.
Bark « Fairegarden 2008
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