The yellow-bellied sapsucker was described and illustrated using a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 1729 and 1732.

[2] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the yellow-bellied sapsucker, coined the binomial name Picus varius and cited Catesby's book.

There is a white stripe, starting above the eye, that extends and widens to the nape, being broken up by a thin black line on the hindneck.

The underparts, excluding the pale breast and above, are tinged yellow, transitioning to a whiter colour in the lower region of them.

[11] The yellow-bellied sapsucker, usually the male, utilizes a long distance nasal "neaaah", "owee-owee", "wee-wee-wee-wee", or "kwee-urk" at the start of breeding[11] to attract its mate to various places within its territory.

[12] When it is alarmed, this bird will utter a soft mew call, getting louder and hoarser as the threat increases.

[12] These drums were previously thought to be used to indicate quality of a nesting or feeding site, but it is likely that they are used as a form of long-distance communication.

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is found across Canada, eastern Alaska and the northeastern United States.

These birds winter in the eastern United States, West Indies and Central America.

[14] When this sapsucker is breeding, it is generally found in deciduous and mixed coniferous forests up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) altitude.

It is also seen at larger trees in pastures, clearings, and suburban areas, in addition to the occasional appearance in palm groves.

[11] Arthropods, tree sap, fruits, and nuts compose the majority of the yellow-bellied sapsucker's diet.

[12] In the breeding season, this sapsucker prefers to take sap from the trees Betula papyrifera, Acer rubrum, Amelanchier, and Populus grandidentata.

[15] Before feeding consistently on a tree, this sapsucker lays down exploratory bands near a live branch.

When it finds a tree that is photosynthesizing, then it lays down more holes to feed,[15] about 0.5 centimetres (0.20 in) above the primary bands.

Each hole is started as an oval elongated horizontally, drilled through the bark and phloem layers to the outside of the xylem.

The study also concluded that a deviance from this search image can be caused by the rarity of the trees that fulfill such criteria.

[17] The sapsucker arrives early in the Northern Hemisphere spring, often before heavy snowfall has stopped.

Members of a pair also perform a dance where they bob their heads and repeatedly opening their wings halfway.

Sapsuckers are also especially susceptible to raccoon attacks when nesting in trees other than P. tremuloides infected by F. fomentarius.

[11] Because the feeding habits of the yellow-bellied sapsucker can injure trees and attract insects, it is sometimes considered a pest.

[26] Sapsucker feeding can kill a tree by girdling,[27] which occurs when a ring of bark around the trunk is severely injured.

For example, a USDA forest study that examined trees injured by yellow-bellied sapsuckers noted a mortality of 67% for Betula populifolia, 51% for B. papyrifera, and 40% for Acer rubrum.

In other tree species, injuries inflicted by yellow-bellied sapsuckers can result in significantly less mortality.

The USDA study noted that only 3% of Picea rubens and 1% of Tsuga canadensis that were injured by sapsuckers succumbed to their wounds.

[9] In the United States, yellow-bellied sapsuckers are listed and protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, making taking, killing, or possessing one illegal without a permit.