Red-breasted Sapsucker
(Sphyrapicus ruber)

Overview

Summary

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The Red-breasted Sapsucker breeds in the moist coniferous and mixed wood forests of British Columbia. The Breeding Bird Survey suggests this species has shown little overall change in its Canadian population since about 1970, although coverage in the north and of high-elevation portions of the breeding range is lacking. There are no major management concerns for the species at this time. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Red-breasted Sapsuckers require snags for nesting and well-forested areas for feeding (Walters et al. 2002a), so clear-cut logging likely causes at least a temporary reduction in available habitat. 

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Walters, E.L., E.H. Miller and P.E. Lowther. 2002a. Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Walters, E.L., E.H. Miller and P.E. Lowther. 2002a. Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)