Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 24 October 2020. Stage Road, Pescadero, San Mateo County, California.
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I believe this bird is either a Red-naped or a Yellow-bellied or possibly a hybrid between the two. I agree the back pattern seems to favor Red-naped but the lack of any red on the nape and what I can see of the throat pattern may favor Yellow-bellied. The age of this bird is also equivocal. It has been argued that it is a molting juvenile Red-naped retaining some juvenal plumage. The weak red crown pattern and lack of facial definition supports this idea. I made two voice recordings which I uploaded to BirdNet. For what it's worth, their algorithm identified both these clips as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with 100% confidence while Red-naped Sapsucker ranked very low or unlikely. My voice recordings have been uploaded to eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75357216?view=audio Note: This bird continues through at least 18 January 2021 and the consensus is that this is an immature male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Canon SX70 HS. |