The Red-breasted Sapsucker is a resident of the Pacific Coast, ranging from northern Lower California northward to Southern Alaska. It extends its flight and breeds as far east as the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains. It belongs to the family of Woodpeckers (Picidae). The generic name, Sphyrapicus, is taken from two Greek words that refer to the habits of these birds—sphura, a hammer and pikos, a woodpecker. The specific name, ruber, means red.

Like its eastern relative, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), it punctures trees possibly in order to feed upon the exuding sap or the insects attracted by its flow, yet this bird does not develop this habit to so great an extent as the eastern species, for it will completely girdle a tree with punctures, which at times will cause its death. A direct evidence of this is found in the fact that in localities where the Red-breasted Sapsucker is abundant indications of their work are not usually common. The adult birds are beautifully marked with crimson on the head and breast, while in the young the color is brownish and the yellow of the belly is wanting.

These birds seem to prefer aspen trees for their homes, selecting one which is a foot or more in diameter near the ground. They excavate a cavity in the trunk several feet from the ground, the door of which, a small round hole, less than two inches in diameter, seems far too small for the parent birds to enter. "The gourd-shaped excavation varies in depth from six to ten inches, and it is from three inches near the top to four or five inches wide at the bottom. The finer chips are allowed to remain in the bottom, forming the nest proper, on which the eggs are deposited. The interior of the entire excavation is most carefully smoothed off, which must consume considerable time, considering the tough, stringy and elastic nature of the wood when filled with sap, making it even more difficult to work when partly decayed, which seems to be the case with nearly all aspens of any size." The larger chips are dropped from the nest and their presence on the ground at the base of the tree is quite a sure indication of the proximity of the nest of this or some related species. The period of incubation probably lasts twelve or more days, and its labors seem to be shared by both sexes. During this period, if the birds are disturbed by a close approach to their nest, they fly away for a short distance uttering sounds of a soft, plaintive character, that are variable and difficult of description. These Sapsuckers are watchful and devoted parents and cases have been reported where the mother bird has been easily captured because of her refusal to leave her young.

As a rule, but a single brood is raised each season. There are five or six eggs and occasionally seven in each set, which vary in form though they are always of the ovate type. At times they are quite elongated. When fresh, the yolk may be seen through the thin shell, giving a pinkish shade to the egg. When the contents are removed the shell is white, showing some lustre.

The food of this species, in addition to the sap and inner bark of the trees they puncture, if it is true that they use this as food, consists of ants, insect larvae, moths and butterflies, many of which are caught on the wing, and small fruits.

Like all the Sapsuckers and the other woodpeckers, the sense of hearing is well developed and it is usually very difficult to approach them without detection.

A sister species of the Sapsucker of our illustration is the beautiful Williamson's Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus), an inhabitant of the Pacific coast. This bird differs from all of the woodpeckers in that the two sexes show a great difference in coloration. So marked is this difference that for a long time they were described as distinct species.