ML132883661

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

While working west along the south side of Lake Tamarisk Drive at its intersection with Fairway Drive, I located what appeared to be a young male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. This was presumably the same individual that was reported just to the west of where I saw it near the entrance to this site on 30 October by David Vander Pluym, Lauren Harter, and John Yerger. Unfortunately, this bird was rather uncooperative. When it was directly above me, the sapsucker remained mostly on the back side of the small branch in the tree, and during my later pursuit it never permitted a close approach as it worked low along the trunks of the smaller trees to the east of where I first spotted it. I never heard this bird vocalize despite its active behavior. This was a medium-sized woodpecker with a bill that was slim, sharp-tipped, and about as long as the head was wide. I thought the forehead was relatively steep and that the crown was rounded on a head that was of unremarkable size. The neck was short and stout, and the body was plump and full-chested. I further thought the tail was unremarkable in its length (for a woodpecker) and that the wings were at least relatively long, but I was unable to determine with any precision the length of the primary projection or the tail. This bird had the bold patterns and relatively bright coloration of a "stripe-headed" sapsucker. The striping on the face seemed somewhat muted relative to what I would have expected from an adult male of this species, yet the pattern was bolder than what I would typically associate with a true juvenile Yellow-bellied in early November. The crown and throat were both conspicuously red, and both were bordered by black stripes that were relatively broad and unbroken. A creamy-white supercilium and a complementary moustachial-stripe were separated by a black mask across the auriculars. As far as I could determine, the red of the throat extended from the base of the lower mandible down through the chin and throat to the junction of the latter with the breast, yet the red was somewhat duller than I would have expected from an adult male. The black border was not broken at the corners of the throat. I thought the breast and sides were a dusky-brown color, but there was at least some yellow in the center of the belly. I am less sure about the pattern and coloration of the flanks. The rear terminus of red on the cap ended abruptly at a broad, black band that extended across the junction of the crown and nape, below which the nape was a dingy-buff color with no red apparent. The back and scapulars were black with a suffusion of grayish-buff mottling that did not clearly form two stripes on the back. Also evident on the mostly black wings was a broad, white blaze along the leading edge and blackish-and-whitish barring on the remiges. I was less sure about the pattern on the tail, but I thought that it too was blackish and whitish, and probably again with some barring. The bill and eyes were dark, but I am not sure I ever clearly saw the legs or feet.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

ISO

800

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

1400 pixels x 1155 pixels

Original file size

1.77 MB