Winter birds are one way we mark the passing of the seasons. In central Arkansas, two species who winter here are dark-eyed juncos and yellow-bellied sapsuckers.
Dark gray with a white belly and white outer tail feathers, the junco will eat feeder seed thrown on the ground. Juncos frequent semi-open habitat such as woodland edges, thickets, and yards with trees and shrubs.
The yellow-bellied sapsucker’s red-crowned head is easier to spot than its faintly yellow belly. A member of the woodpecker family, the sapsucker drills tiny, neatly spaced round rectangular holes in trees to feed on sap and insects. You may see a sapsucker at your suet feeder.
Do you feed birds in your yard? Find out more about them, and Project Feederwatch, which begins each November, at allaboutbirds.org.