Sapsucker Holes in Live Oak: Not Borers, But Birds

A Houston live oak shows rings of holes through the bark from ground to 10 feet up. Similar holes appeared on a Bradford pear last year. The homeowner suspects wood-boring beetles and asks about chemical treatment.

Real Culprit: Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

The holes are made by sapsuckers, a woodpecker species. They drill rows of holes, sap flows, insects feed on the sap, and the bird returns to eat the insects. The holes only penetrate bark, not wood.

Management

• Spray trunk with Sevin or Malathion to kill insects in the holes—birds lose food source and leave.
• If holes are random and penetrate wood (not in lines), use Merit insecticide for actual borers.
• Merit works on both but is costlier.

Sapsucker damage is rarely fatal; the tree will compartmentalize the wounds.