Re: [cobirds] Red-naped Sapsucker

Joe and all,

Actually in all likelihood your sapsucker is a juvenile Yellow-bellied.  Red-naped Sapsuckers undergo molt out of juvenal plumage early. They undergo molt from June to October and should be in Basic I plumage by now per Birds of North America online.  The lack of red on the nape is another indicator that this is not a Red-naped as this characteristic is present early in the molt out of juvenal plumage.   Ken Kaufman in his Advanced Birding states, "So any 'obvious immature' after September is pretty certainly a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  


SeEtta Moss
Canon City
Blogging for Birds and Blooms magazine @ http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/author/seetta-moss/
Personal blog @ BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com

On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Joe Mammoser <jmammos@waterpik.com> wrote:

Cobirders,

   I went to Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins over my lunch period today to try and see if some of the Red Crossbills have settled in there. I did not see a Crossbill, but found a late immature Red-Naped Sapsucker. It was flying from tree to tree at the north-west corner of section 8 and north-east corner of section 1. It would land on a tree for only 3-4 seconds and would then fly to another. It is molting into adult plumage on the wings and lower back. It is already showing the yellow in the breast and lower belly. I could see that the black line separating the throat from the side of the face was incomplete. I could not discern any red on the nape.

 

Joe Mammoser

Fort Collins

Larimer County

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