ML21156531

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

A male Williamson's Sapsucker photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 14 November 2015 near the beginning of the Ramona Trail along State Highway 74 in the Garner Valley, Riverside County, California. This bird was found shortly before by Howard King.

Observation details

While trying to get photos of a flock of Pinyon Jays that were frequenting the Jeffrey Pines on the east side of State Highway 74 Howard spotted a male Williamson’s Sapsucker that was foraging along the trunks of nearby pines. We spent a short time observing this bird until it flew across the road to a larger pine that had much sap flowing. The sapsucker then spent an extended period of time quietly moving up-and-down along the trunk of this tree. Although Bill thought the sapsucker flew off shortly before we left the site, Julie Szabo relocated this bird in the same tree about an hour later, so it may never have left the tree. Typical of a sapsucker this bird was moderately wary, often remaining on the back side of the trunk and ascending to the upper branches if we approached the tree too closely, but over time I was able to get good views and several photos. This was a medium-sized woodpecker that I suspect was roughly comparable in size to a Hairy Woodpecker, but with a somewhat different structure. The relatively slim bill was almost as long as the head was wide and it tapered from a relatively shallow base to a pointed tip along a straight culmen. My impression was that this bird's head was more rounded than is typical of a Hairy Woodpecker, and its neck appeared to be shorter and more stocky in appearance. I also thought this bird body was plumper than that of a Picoides and at times it almost seemed to have a "pot-bellied" appearance. Given that this bird typically remained on the far side of the trunk, I had a hard time seeing the primary projection, the length of the wings, and much of the tail. I nevertheless noted that the medium-length tail was used as a prop as the bird crept up and down the trunk of the tree. I suspect I probably saw this bird's legs and feet, but I cannot remember anything about them. This was a strikingly patterned bird yet for the most part it's coloration represented a sharp contrast between black and white. The forehead, crown, nape, back, scapulars were uniformly jet-black and possibly with a slight iridescence to them. Demarcating the cap was a relatively narrow but also well defined supercilium that extended back from the eye along the upper edge of the auriculars to their rear terminus before curving downward and extending a short distance before ending at the side of the nape. The distal ends of the supercilia almost pinched off the black of the crown where it met the nape. Complementing the white supercilia were the similarly well-defined, white moustachial-stripes that extended diagonally across the side of the face from just behind the base of the upper mandible to the corners of the throat. Between the supercilia and the moustachial stripes was a black facemask that extended back across the auriculars to the nape. Bordering the moustachial stripes below was a narrow band of black on the outer edge of the throat that further demarcated the bright, Crimson-red that extended from the chin down the center of the throat to its junction with the breast. The breast and sides were uniformly black and apparently with a slight iridescence. The flanks, however, were either mottled or barred with black and white, and my brief views of the belly suggested that it was yellow. I never clearly saw the undertail coverts or the underside of the tail. Returning to the upperparts, the back, scapulars, and most of the wings appeared to be uniformly black; however, there was a broad, white band extending across the coverts along the leading edge of the wing. I believe the remiges were mostly black, but I think they also had some white barring. As noted above, I never clearly saw the wingtips or the upperside of the tail, yet when I saw this bird in flight it appeared to have a white rump. The bill appeared to be black, and the eyes were dark, but I cannot recall noting in the field the color of the legs or feet.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

2433 pixels x 1634 pixels

Original file size

1.9 MB