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A male Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) clings to the side of an aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, during springtime. This species, a member of the woodpecker family, is a specialized forager that drills rows of sap wells in living trees to feed on the sugary fluid and the insects it attracts. Red-naped Sapsuckers rely heavily on mature aspen stands for both nesting and feeding, making the species closely tied to the health of western forest ecosystems. Like many cavity-nesting species, they play a vital ecological role by creating nesting sites used by other birds and small mammals after the sapsuckers move on. Climate change, altered fire regimes, and changes in forest management all pose potential threats to the aspen ecosystems these birds depend on.