No, the damage is being done by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), related to the woodpecker. This federally protected bird searches shrubs and trees with thin bark and pecks rows of holes in a distinct pattern. Sapsuckers feed …
What would cause lines of holes—about the diameter of a lead pencil—throughout the trunk of a 10-year-old white pine tree?
The yellow-bellied sapsucker bird (Sphyrapicus varius) can cause damage to many species of trees by drilling one-quarter-inch holes through the bark of tree trunks and limbs in vertical and horizontal rows. These holes are often arranged so perfectly …