preventing sapsucker damage

16 years ago

I have had a young Sezuan Birch for six years which has now become the target of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, whose drilled holes have loosened large sections of bark, which threaten to girdle the trunks (there are three trunks, roughly 4 inches in diameter). In a previous posting the only remedy suggested was to wrap the trunks in hardware cloth. This would hardly be practical in a 20-ft. tall tree. Does anyone have any alternative solutions to suggest?

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Comments (3)

Dibbit
16 years ago
Not being familiar with the tree, I don't know if peeling bark is normal or not. If, like paper or river birches, it does get flaking bark as it ages, then it may not be as awful as it appears. If the tree has a good sized caliper to it, then the sapsucker may not do too much damage - if it's still pretty skinny, and if the sapsucker is very persistant, then it may be more serious. I had to take out a smallish - 6-8' tall - maple, which I didn't really like where it was, anyway - after a sapsucker totally girdled it in a band about 6" wide all around the trunk, but it was only a few years old. If I had liked it there, I might have let it take its chances on recovering. If the cambium layer is still intact, the tree may be able to out-grow the damage over the summer, and callus over the holes.

Can you see well enough - with binoculars? - to see if the holes are pretty much continuous around the trunk, or are there untouched patches of bark? If there are untouched patches, and you can get reasonably high up into the tree with a ladder, can you hang one of the holographic bird-scarers - plastic filmmy "tails" that flash as they blow in the breeze - or old CDs, in the tree? They MIGHT scare the bird away. Sorry not to be more helpful, or hopeful...
Marie Tulin
16 years ago
I know 'sapsucker' is the common name, but do these birds really drill for sap or insects? This is not an answer to your problem, but if it is actually looking for insects, like woodpeckers, maybe the problem is not so much the bird but the insects that it is after. Just a thought....
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Thank you all! >>I put out orange halves for the orioles (which didn't come) and to my surprise the sapsuckers fed on these oranges. They were at them constantly. Perhaps you can entice them away from your chokecherry tree bark with some orange halves?About 20 feet away is my feeding station and have also put up orange halves the whole season, only the female downy wood pecker I have seen so far. ... I think putting up anything is better then nothing, I want to put up some kind of summer suet next year. I urge all scientist to make a sap like substitute for them! I have to think on this one! LOL This year is my first year, [after learning sapsucker damage from our friends] to constantly watch for damage, I think, once you can spot it sooner, it can be repaired fairly quick and the tree can heal better. Looking the other day at the French willows, some larger branches are dead from the damage! Today I spotted a apple tree with some holes but it's healeing in nicely. Oh..it seems, willow damage doesn't heal very good or not at all! Konrad
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first pic.. is the trunk really skinnier down below ??? i had a row of scots pine.. the SS did not attack until the trees were already stressed and dying from other problems ... most likely money well spent would involve hiring an certified arborist to see if perhaps they should be removed .... especially if they were pre-exisiting and the home built in between them if they fail.. will they fall on anything of value ... we really dont have many facts here to opine much further ken https://www.google.com/search?q=isa+certified+arborist&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
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alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
16 years ago
They drill for the sap and the insects that are attracted to it. It may be no help in this situation, but I used aluminum foil around the trunk of my old holly tree and it worked.

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preventing sapsucker damage

Comments (3)

Dibbit

Marie Tulin

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alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama

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