yellow-bellied sapsucker
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9.9
- noun
- /ˈjɛloʊˌbɛl.id ˈsæpˌsʌkər/
- US
- I spotted a yellow-bellied sapsucker pecking at a tree, creating holes to get to the sweet sap inside.
Examples
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A yellow-bellied sapsucker punched holes into black birch.
Fiction book (2000) -
The yellow-bellied sapsucker is known for its distinctive yellow belly and unique drilling patterns.
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During the spring, the yellow-bellied sapsucker arrives in our area to feed on tree sap and insects.
Synonyms
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1.4
A bird with a strong beak that makes holes in trees to find insects
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9.6
A small woodpecker that makes rows of holes in trees to drink sap from apple or maple trees
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9.9
A group of woodpeckers in North America that feed on tree sap
A woodpecker with a pale yellow belly that drills tree bark for sap and insects
Surface Forms
Morphology
yellow-bellied + sapsucker
The compound is transparently built from 'yellow-bellied' (having a yellow belly) and 'sapsucker' (a bird that sucks sap), so the overall meaning — a bird with a yellow/pale belly that feeds on sap — is directly predictable from the parts. While 'yellow-bellied' can be idiomatic in other contexts (meaning cowardly), in a species name the color + body-part + feeding-behavior composition is literal and cross-linguistically accessible to learners who know the constituent words.
Etymology
Yellow-bellied sapsucker gets its name from the bird's pale yellow belly (yellow-bellied) and its habit of drilling neat rows of holes to drink tree 'sap', which gives the sapsucker part. So the name describes this woodpecker that feeds on sap and insects.