Red-naped Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus nuchalisOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)

Overview

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.

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:

Voice Text

"whee-ur", "mew"

Red-naped Sapsucker

● 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