Sphyrapicus varius
Silhouette: Nancy Wyman (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States. The yellow-bellied sapsucker was described and illustrated using a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 1729 and 1732. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the yellow-bellied sapsucker, coined the binomial name Picus varius and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet varius is the Latin word meaning "various", "diverse" or "variegated". Linnaeus specified the type locality as America septentrionalis (North America) but the locality is now restricted to South Carolina. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is now placed in the genus Sphyrapicus that was erected in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird with the yellow-bellied sapsucker as the type species. Within the genus Sphyrapicus, the yellow-bellied sapsucker is sister to a clade containing the red-breasted sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) and the red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 7 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 553 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 110th most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and December–February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in March–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-bellied Sapsucker sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
17th of 44
Of the 44 parks where we can rate Yellow-bellied Sapsucker sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 17th at about 10%. The best odds are in Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 40%), Congaree National Park (United States, about 30%) and Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 20%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Red-bellied Woodpecker (about 40%), Northern Flicker (about 20%) and Pileated Woodpecker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (553 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
