Fairly common throughout North Carolina in winter, sapsuckers nest only in the higher elevations of the Mountains. Sapsuckers are easy to identify -- look for the white stripe along the wing.

This one is a male. Females are similar, also with red forehead and throat, but only males have a red chin.

Chatham Co., NC 2/16/06.

Sapsuckers drill neat rows of sap wells in the bark of living trees. Sapsuckers suck the sap that oozes out of the holes and also feed on the insects attracted to the sap. Sometimes other birds take advantage of the sapsucker's wells, such as this Bullock's Oriole.