yes

figure out what is inside the tree that the bird wants?????

ken

They are called "sapsuckers" for a reason, Ken ;-)

The damage is usually cosmetic and not very harmful to the tree when they are as large as your cedar. Especially when the damage is confined to one side there is still sufficient sap movement on the other side

Thanks for the comments. I sure hope you are right about the tree being big enough for it not to matter. I'll have to check regularly to see if it is getting worse.

Really could be a lot worse. Damage on a sweetgum...
hortster

Wow. That looks like the smallish crab apple that was taken over by the sapsucker. Is that sweetgum considered healthy?

Couldn't tell - first branching and foliage occurred at about 60' (the old tree is in a thickly forested area). It was green on top, though, so it was living.
hortster

I don't know how to work italics on this forum, but sapsuckers are a type of woodpecker-the word are in italics, lol.

And no, that amount of damage on that amount of tree is not likely to be having much, if any impact on tree's health.

+oM

They cause this type of damage on many species here. I found that by placing bird feeders around my garden to attracts blue jays and cardinals, the sapsuckers are encouraged to go elsewhere.

They cause this type of damage on many species here. I found that by placing bird feeders around my garden to attracts blue jays and cardinals, the sapsuckers are encouraged to go elsewhere.

+oM, use standard html for italics, so i>text/i> becomes text. You can replace the i with a b for bold or a u for underline.

my extremely superficial research.. indicates.. that they can also be eating things they dig out ...

again ... its simplistic to NOT find out.. if your tree is infested with something ....

i never saw sapsucker damage.. until pine wilt attacked my pinus sylvetrus.. which then brought alone the pine beetles.. or whatever they were.. which then brought the bird ...

for any of us.. to simply rule out bug infestation.. based on your one pic.. might not be the best formula for success ...

you might get far.. talking with your county extension office.. to find out if there are any general plagues in your county affecting such trees ...

if it is bug.. then a bird feeder and some shiny mobiles.. are not going to do much ... to solve the issue ....

your county peeps will have much more LOCAL info.. than some guy in MI [me].. and another in the PNW [bot/mike]...

ken

They will also eat insects that are attracted to their "wells," and forage for other arthropods, but sapsuckers are unusual among woodpeckers in that they are not primarily going after borers, and are not more likely to drill their sap wells in infested trees. Ken, I'd suspect that it was another species of woodpecker that was feeding in your infested pine.

I could not detect any bugs eating the trees that the Sapsuckers drilled, neither under the bark, nor the foliage. I'm pretty sure saccharum is right.
The Pileated Woodpecker goes after decayed trees here that are full of all sorts of larvae. They're fun to have around.....the Woodpecker, that is.
Mike

Thanks for the comments regarding the problem with my atlas cedar. I guess I'll just watch and see what happens. If it is a seasonal thing (since I'm in NJ) then maybe it'll be OK. After all, there are signs of similar, but faded damage on the tree from a prior season. This indicates to me that it isn't a continual thing.