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Red-naped Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus nuchalisOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Red-naped Sapsucker Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger, All-purpose
  • Eye color: Brown iris
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Striped, Special (unique patterns or features)
  • Crown color: Red
  • Forehead color: Red, Black
  • Nape Color: Red
  • Throat color: Red
  • Cere color:
Splitbar
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Red-naped Sapsucker Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 20-22 cm (8-9 in)
  • Weight: 68 g (2.4 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: Red, White, Black, Yellow
  • Underparts: Black breast and yellow-washed white belly.
  • Upperparts: Black with white barring.
  • Back Pattern: Barred or banded
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Red-naped Sapsucker Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Alternates several rapid shallow wing beats with short glides.
  • Wingspan Range: 40-45 cm (16-18 in)
  • Wing Shape: Tapered-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Rounded Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Barred
  • Upper Tail: Black with black and white barring on central feathers.
  • Under Tail: Black
  • Leg color: Gray
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Copyright © 2005 WBFI Research Foundation Bird database and its related content and media is Copyright (C) 2002 - 2005 Mitch Waite Group All rights reserved.

Family Woodpecker (Picidae)_blue
Species Sphyrapicus nuchalis
Length8 - 9 Inches
Wingspan17 Inches

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.
Red-naped Sapsucker Body Illustration
● 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