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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and Feeding

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

Readily Eats

Suet, Sunflower Seed, Nuts, Sugar Water, Fruit

Vocalization

Red-naped Sapsucker: Song is a soft slurred "whee-ur" or "mew."

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.