yellowbellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
CONFIRMATION STATUS: Confirmed.
IDENTIFICATION:
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Length: 7.75? inches
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Medium-sized woodpecker
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Black head traversed by white postocular stripe extending down neck
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Red forehead
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Pale moustachial stripe offsets black chest and complete, thick black border to throat
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Black back with faint white bars
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Black wings, with white barring on flight feathers and bold white patch on wing coverts
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Yellow breast fades to whitish lower belly and vent, and is streaked sparsely about the flanks
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White rump
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Dark tail with black and white barring on central most and outer most retricies
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Very rarely shows red nape spot
Adult male:
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Red throat
Adult female:
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White throat
Juvenile:
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Wings and back patterned more or less like adult
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Head brownish and streaked, with weak postocular stripe and mous- tachial stripe
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Reddish wash on forehead
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Pale chest barred heavily with brown
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Yellowish belly sparsely barred and streaked with brown
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Juvenal plumage retained until first spring
Similar species:
White patch on wing coverts sets sapsuckers apart from all other
woodpeckers. Male yellow-bellied sapsuckers are distinguished from
male red-naped only by the red nape spot and incomplete frame to red
throat of red-naped sapsucker. Females are somewhat easier to
distinguish, as they differ in these characters, as well as having quite
different throat patterns (white in yellow-bellied, red and white in
red-naped). It is worth noting that any sapsucker in juvenal plumage
after late fall must be a yellow-bellied. Beware of rare hybrid yellow-
bellied x red-naped sapsuckers, and the occasional yellow-bellied
sapsucker which may show a red nape spot.
LIFE HISTORY
Migration Status: Short distance migrant
Breeding Habitat: Woodland
Nest Location: N/A
Nest Type: Cavity
Clutch Size: 3-7
Length of Incubation: 12-13 days
Days to Fledge: 25-29
Number of Broods: 1
Diet: Mostly plant matter; lesser quantities of insects, fruit
SKY MEADOWS DISTRIBUTION/SEASONAL OCCURRENCE
Relative abundance and seasonal occurrence are indicated in red below.
Relative abundance
C - Common: Likely to be present in good numbers in appropriate habitat and season.
U - Uncommon: May be present in appropriate habitat and season, often in low
numbers.
O - Occassional: Found in appropriate habitat perhaps only a few times per season,
sometimes low numbers.
R - Rare: May not be recorded every year.
Acc - Accidental: Recorded once or twice, may not be expected again for a long time.
Seasonal Occurrence
Sp - Spring: March, April, May U
Su - Summer: June, July, August
Fall: September, October, November C
Winter: December, January, February C
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