Knowledgebase
Cedar tree with holes in bark #768829
Asked August 23, 2021, 7:35 PM EDT
Multnomah County Oregon
Expert Response
Hello, yes, that is interesting, and since the health of the tree looks good, I'm wondering if this could be from a red-breasted sapsucker. These woodpeckers often excavate holes like this, and they are called sap wells. The woodpeckers return to the holes and eat insects attracted to the sap or drink the sap. In this case it may be that the woodpecker was just checking out the tree as they seem to hit just about every tree we have, conifer or hardwood.
Here is a website: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/pathogen-articles/nonpathogenic-phenomena/recognizing-sapsucker-damage-your-trees
One way to find out is to carefully excavate these holes and see if they actually go into the wood, versus are superficial and only slightly wound the sapwood.
There are some wood borers that are common on western red cedar, and may infest port orford cedar. One common one is the western cedar borer (Trachykele blondeli), but this one bores in through branches, not holes directly into the tree.