Larry,
The second bird is actually the easier of the two birds to ID. It has lots of
retained juvenile feathering, which on this date makes it a Yellow-bellied.
Hatch-year Red-breasted and Red-naped Sapsuckers complete their preformative
first fall molts before reaching their wintering grounds, thus by this date
they look mostly like adults. Surveys of museum collections have also shown
that all first-fall specimens of Red-naped taken after mid-Oct show at least
some red on the nape, which is clearly lacking on the second bird. In my
opinion this bird presents the appearance of a fairly typical mid-winter
immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The bird in the top photo also shows some
limited retained juvenile feathering (the brown feathering on the neck and
nape). Yellow-bellieds are highly variable in terms of the extent and timing of
preformative molt during their first winter, with some birds looking mostly
adult-like by mid-winter and others retaining mostly juvenile plumage until
they molt in early spring.
The top bird has a throat pattern (white chin above mostly red throat patch)
suggestive of a Red-naped, but the overall head pattern, retained juvenile
feathering and absence of red on the nape (so far as I can see) suggests
Yellow-bellied parentage. Unless young male Yellow-bellieds can show a
distinctly white chin—and I don’t think they do—I would lean towards calling
the top bird a Yellow-bellied X Red-naped hybrid.
Dave Irons
Beaverton, OR
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 25, 2019, at 3:50 PM, Larry McQueen <larmcqueen@xxxxxxx> wrote:<��I��ʋ���-���W�y�b��(�N
Daniel,
The second bird is unusually pale faced, which might account for the lack of
red on the lower throat, as well. I doubt that this bird can be IDed from
the photo.
Larry
On Jan 25, 2019, at 2:52 PM, Daniel Farrar <jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Obol,
This morning I relocated the reported YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER at
the Lagoon Campground at Siltcoos, south of Florence. This is not the
bird I've reported the last few days from Honeyman. I got a few
digiscopes and would like some opinions on this bird. It does not
have a red nape, but does appear to have a white chin with a red
throat. It is fairly scruffy. Any comments appreciated. I also
have a short video that eBird would not let me upload.
https://ebird.org/pnw/view/checklist/S52023577
The YB Sapsucker reported from Honeyman yesterday lacks any red in the
throat. Comments again appreciated. Cindy and Mark Armstrong were
able to photograph this bird. I suspect more photos to come.
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S52000848
Good birding,
Daniel Farrar
Dunes City, Oregon
jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx
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