Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States. == Taxonomy == 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). The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. == Description == The yellow-bellied sapsucker has a length of around 19 to 21 centimetres (7+1⁄2 to 8+1⁄4…
Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Canada
+115 birds+23 mammals
Where the Cabot Trail winds through Nova Scotia’s northern reaches, weathered plateaus rise dramatically above the Atlantic, their cliff faces […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKFrontenac National Park
Sainte-Praxède, Canada
+126 birds+26 mammals
Granite cliffs rise abruptly from crystalline lakes, their weathered faces painted in rust and lichen, while boreal forest sweeps across […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMont-Saint-Bruno National Park
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Canada
+121 birds+30 mammals
Where the Saint Lawrence lowlands rise into unexpected prominence, a modest but ecologically rich mountain dome commands attention across Quebec’s […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPointe-Taillon National Park
Lac-Saint-Jean-Est, Canada
+135 birds+24 mammals
Where the St. Lawrence River widens into the Gulf, a slender peninsula of boreal forest and wetland emerges from the […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMauricie National Park
Shawinigan, Canada
+120 birds+30 mammals
Where granite ridges rise above boreal forest and pristine waterways carve through the Canadian Shield, a wilderness of rare ecological […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNew River Gorge National Park
Fayette County, United States
+118 birds+23 mammals
Where sandstone cliffs plunge nearly 900 feet into a churning ribbon of whitewater, one of North America’s most dramatic river […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBig Bend National Park
Brewster County, United States
+121 birds+29 mammals
Where the Rio Grande carves a serpentine boundary between Texas and Mexico, the Chisos Mountains rise abruptly from desert scrubland […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSaguaro National Park – Rincon Mountain District
Pima County, United States
+131 birds+28 mammals
Dawn breaks over slopes where towering saguaro cacti puncture the Sonoran Desert sky like sentinels guarding an ancient realm. This […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKEverglades National Park
Monroe County, United States
+123 birds+27 mammals
Where sawgrass prairie stretches endlessly beneath subtropical skies, a vast wetland wilderness pulses with primordial energy. Spanning over 13,000 square […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGreat Smoky Mountains National Park
Sevier County, United States
+122 birds+30 mammals
Where ancient mountains meet temperate rainforest, a landscape of astonishing biological richness unfolds across 4,212 square kilometers of protected wilderness. […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKRocky Mountain National Park
Larimer County, United States
+121 birds+31 mammals
Where granite peaks pierce the Colorado sky above 12,000 feet, alpine tundra sprawls across windswept plateaus alongside dense subalpine forests […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKWood Buffalo National Park
Improvement District No. 24, Canada
+27 birds+12 mammals
Where boreal forest dissolves into muskeg and pristine waterways carve through an otherwise untamed wilderness, Canada’s largest national park sprawls […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLac-Témiscouata National Park
Témiscouata, Canada
+55 birds+10 mammals
Where the Appalachian highlands meet the boreal forest, a pristine wilderness of over 500 square kilometres unfolds across eastern Quebec. […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKFundy National Park of Canada
Alma Parish, Canada
+131 birds+27 mammals
Where the Bay of Fundy’s tidal rhythms sculpt the Maritime landscape, a compact wilderness of 345 square kilometres unfolds across […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMont-Tremblant National Park
Lac-des-Dix-Milles, Canada
+110 birds+23 mammals
Where granite ridges rise above boreal forest and crystalline lakes mirror the Quebec sky, one of eastern Canada’s most dynamic […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKÎles-De-Boucherville National Park
Boucherville, Canada
+104 birds+10 mammals
Dawn breaks over a labyrinth of forested islands rising from the St. Lawrence River, where 18 square kilometres of protected […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGros Morne National Park
Canada
+128 birds+19 mammals
Where granite peaks rise dramatically above fjord-carved valleys, one of Canada’s most geologically spectacular wilderness areas commands nearly 4,000 square […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBic National Park
Rimouski, Canada
+119 birds+17 mammals
Granite cliffs plunge toward the churning Saint Lawrence River, where salt marshes and boreal forest converge in an explosive collision […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKouchibouguac National Park of Canada
Carleton Parish, Canada
+114 birds+16 mammals
Salt marshes melting into Acadian forest meet the Bay of Fundy’s restless tides along New Brunswick’s hidden gem. This 591-square-kilometre […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKForillon National Park
Gaspé, Canada
+131 birds+11 mammals
Where the Gaspé Peninsula meets the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, rugged cliffs plunge into churning Atlantic waters, sculpting a dramatic […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPoint Pelee National Park
Leamington, Canada
+125 birds+28 mammals
Where Lake Erie’s waters meet a sandy finger of Ontario’s shoreline, one of North America’s most vital migratory corridors pulses […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKArrecifes de Cozumel National Park
San Miguel de Cozumel, Mexico
+134 birds+21 mammals
Crystalline waters lap against the world’s second-longest coral barrier reef, where vibrant walls of living limestone plunge into the abyss. […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSierra de Tamaulipas
El Porvenir, Mexico
+91 birds+20 mammals
Where limestone peaks thrust skyward through dense subtropical forest, Mexico’s northeastern frontier reveals one of the continent’s most biodiverse mountain […]
VIEW NATURE RESERVEParque Nacional Cerro de la Estrella
Mexico
+123 birds+30 mammals
Volcanic ridges rise abruptly from the valley floor south of Mexico City, their slopes clothed in a mosaic of pine-oak […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Nacional Benito Juárez
San Andrés Huayápam, Mexico
+129 birds+30 mammals
Towering pine and fir forests blanket the high plateaus of Oaxaca’s Sierra Madre Oriental, where elevation exceeds 3,600 meters and […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Nacional Grutas de Cacahuamilpa
Pilcaya, Mexico
+141 birds+19 mammals
Where limestone cliffs plunge into shadowed canyons, the Río Río Grande carves its ancient passage through one of Mexico’s most […]
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