Looks like Woodpeckers or maybe Sapsuckers (birds) to me. Could be after boring insects or just the sap during the drought as little or not other food was avviable.

Arktrees

sapsucker

not you.. the bird

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Little buggers did the same thing to my lindens!

Thanks! Initially, I told her I thought it may be woodpeckers but just wanted to make sure.

Check out this tuliptree. Must have been a favorite. Thirsty little critters!
hortster

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Was the tree still alive? I remember you posting this before but can't remember...

Don't know what I'd do if the sapsuckers and woodpeckers went to town on a specimen tree like they did to that poor tulip tree.

Rarely cause significant problems for the tree.

+oM

Yeah I know, but I seem to remember hortster stating the tree was dead the last time the pic was brought up

have you ever stopped to ponder .. what is involved in evolving into a species that repeatedly slams its own head into solid wood..

whats that all about ..

i mean really .. i might do it every now and then.. but sooner or later.. i figure out a better way to accomplish whatever i am doing ...

ken

More pics of hortster's tree below

Here is a link that might be useful: link

The tree was alive. It had no branching left for the first forty or fifty feet of trunk. Picture taken near Williamsburg, VA. I've seen a lot of sapsucker damage here in KS, mostly on pines and maples.
hortster

Most larger Bradfords in my area have this sort of bark damage.

They can kill a tree. I've lost several to Sapsuckers. Here's a weeping Sequoiadendron in my garden that eventually died because of them. They have weakened two others. They leave the normal species alone. Note, no damage below the graft. Strange.

{{gwi:326195}}

This Abies pinsapo, 'Glauca' was on it's way out when I put it out of it's misery.
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They even went after this Cedrus deodara. I took it down because it was looking worse than good, and going downhill fast. They left another one alone. ???
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They have also gone after a few large Rhododendrons. Didn't kill them, but set them back a bit. The Rhodies sprout new growth below the damage and continue on. Ruins the branching pattern for awhile though.
Mike

I hate to see that. It reminds me of my ap'omure yama' i have grown for many years. Its around 10'ft tall now, but the squirrels have hacked it up in many places. The only tree they bother. So the battle began....a few left in body bags and about a dozen are now in the witness protection program in neighboring counties!

Hey, alley cat, squirrels (aka tree rats) have been a problem here in that they use the bark for nesting and have killed many large branches of trees by girdling them for the bark. Squirrels, sapsuckers, well, I guess it is really an act of nature. We may not like it but "stuff happens (the nice way to put it)." I am a nearly organic and relatively humane conservator, but have left a few body bags (in the dumpster, none in adjacent counties) myself. My very fast retriever has pretty much relieved me of the squirrel function. Haven't taught her to jump for sapsuckers yet...may be difficult.
hortster

I know hortster, A few years ago they killed a bloodgood of mine from girdling which i accepted and replaced with a 'heart of gold' redbud...but now my ap 'omure yama' was really comming into its own and starting to shape up nicely...looks like potatoe peeling w tina knife in multiple locations from top to bottom and some quite deep.I swear they know my car or truck sound and haul a** when i get home........Ive slowed em down for now!!!!!!!

The I stand corrected. Should have said, I've never heard of nor seen significant damage from sapsuckers. I've seen a lot of sapsucker holes in trees, just never knew them to actually be a cause for concern.

+oM