[obol] Re: Eugene Red-naped Sapsucker Photos
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: Thomas Meinzen <thomasmeinzen@xxxxxxxxx>, OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2015 05:53:43 +0000
Thomas,
Whenever I hear the report of a Red-naped Sapsucker in western Oregon, my
antennae go up. I generally expect to find photos of a Red-naped Sapsucker X
Red-breasted Sapsucker, as this cross appears west of the Cascades far more
often than do 'pure' Red-napeds.
When I looked at your photo, I was pleasantly surprised to not find an obvious
Red-naped X Red-breasted hybrid, but I am inclined to think this is still might
be a hybrid. The back pattern–barred with golden-buff almost completely
across–is suggestive of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Also, this bird seems to
show a fair amount of juvenile-like plumage, which should be long gone on a
pure Red-naped. Something about the face pattern also didn't look right. It
seems a bit too white dominant for and the black patch on the auriculars is not
solid as it wraps down onto the side of the neck.
There are, however, a couple of flies in the ointment of my hybrid theory.
First, there is a bit of red feathering in the anterior section of the white
supercilium. This is typical of Red-naped X Red-breasted hybrids and should not
occur on either Yellow-bellied or Red-naped, so it doesn't make sense that a
hybrid of these two species would yield a bird with red in the white
supercilium. Secondly, the red on the nape seems a bit too extensive for a even
a pure Red-naped Sapsucker and since Yellow-bellied has no red on the nape, why
would a hybrid show more extensive red than either parent species?
Below are links to three photos of putative Red-naped Sapsucker X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker hybrids. Both show back patterns, head patterns (sans
red in supercilium and extensive red on the nape) that are similar to your
bird, along with plumage suggestive of retained juvenile feathers. Only
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers retain juvenile plumage through their first winter
and into early spring. The two other species in this complex have a complete
formative molt in fall that results in them looking mostly like adults by
mid-October.
http://utahbirders.blogspot.com/2013/04/2013-gunnison-sage-grouse-days-recap.html
you need to scroll down about two pages to find the image of the putative
hybrid sapsucker.
http://birdseye.photo/photo/33804/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36088296@N08/10075053945/
Given that this bird has unexpected red in the supercilium and more extensive
red on the nape than what seems typical for Red-naped, I have to wonder if this
bird is a mix of all three species, with one parent being a 'pure'
Yellow-bellied and the other parent being a Red-naped Sapsucker X Red-breasted
Sapsucker hybrid. That would certainly explain the red in the supercilium and
extensive red on the nape. Red-naped X Red-breasteds abound along a broad zone
of contact between these two species and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are annual
vagrants to Oregon, with many overwintering birds lingering right up to the
onset of the breeding season. It's hardly implausible to such a pairing could
occur in Oregon or nearby.
This is certainly an interesting bird that isn't easily slotted into a
particular species. For what it's worth, Shawneen took a quick look at this and
felt it didn't look right for a pure Red-naped. Being infinitely wiser than me,
she moved on to other projects rather than joining me on a trip down the
mineshaft of sapsucker hybridization. If you can get more photos of this bird,
I would certainly like to see them. Assessing the parentage of hybrids is by no
mean an exact science and the genetic introgression in this group of species
makes it doubly hard. My conclusions about this bird are speculative and thus
debatable.
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2015 21:00:15 -0700
Subject: [obol] Eugene Red-naped Sapsucker Photos
From: thomasmeinzen@xxxxxxxxx
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Here are a couple of the best photos of the Red-naped Sapsucker in my friend's
north Eugene yard this afternoon:
https://plus.google.com/photos/116543486500187950130/albums/6124076607327736161?authkey=CMj60aWykZjyXA
Cheers,Thomas MeinzenEugene
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