Red-naped Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus nuchalisOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)

General

Red-naped Sapsucker: Medium-sized woodpecker with white-checkered black upperparts and pale yellow underparts with spotted sides. Head has red crown and nape patch and thick white moustache stripe behind eye. Throat and breast band are black. Wings are black with thick white stripes. Female is similar and has red throat with white chin patch. Juvenile is dull brown overall.

Range and Habitat

Red-naped Sapsucker: Breeds in the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia and Alberta south to east-central California, central Arizona, and southern New Mexico. Spends winters north to southern California, central Arizona, and central New Mexico. Found in edges of coniferous forests, woodlands, and groves of aspen and alder.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"whee-ur", "mew"

Interesting Facts

The Red-naped Sapsucker is closely related to the Yellow-bellied and Red-breasted sapsuckers. All three were formerly considered races of the yellow-bellied.

Sapsuckers do not suck sap, but are specialized for sipping it. Their tongues are shorter than those of other woodpeckers, and do not extend as far out. The tip of the tongue has small hair-like projections on it that help pick up the sap.

It interbreeds with the Yellow-bellied at the eastern edge of its breeding range and with the Red-breasted to the West. The resulting hybrids can be difficult to identify.

A group of sapsuckers are collectively known as a "slurp" of sapsuckers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Red-naped Sapsucker

Red-naped Sapsucker: Medium-sized woodpecker with white-checkered black upperparts, pale yellow underparts with spotted sides. Head has red crown, nape patch and white moustache stripe behind eye. Throat and breast band are black. Wings are black with thick white stripes. Black bill, legs and feet.

● Song: "whee-ur", "mew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-naped Sapsucker: Drinks sap and eats bark cambium, insects, fruits, and berries.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-naped Sapsucker: Five to six white eggs are laid in a cavity drilled in a tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Red-naped Sapsucker: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker lacks red nape, red on throat is smaller and edged in black, female lacks red on throat. Red-breasted Sapsucker has an entirely red head, neck, and breast; less mottling and barring on back.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid shallow wing beats with short glides.

● Range & Habitat: Red-naped Sapsucker: Breeds in the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia and Alberta south to east-central California, central Arizona, and southern New Mexico. Spends winters north to southern California, central Arizona, and central New Mexico. Found in edges of coniferous forests, woodlands, and groves of aspen and alder.

^BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight2.4 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America