Bird name:

Red-naped Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus nuchalis

Order

PICIFORMES

Family

Woodpeckers (Picidae)

Code 4

RNSA

Code 6

SPHNUC

ITIS

178211

Breeding Location:

Forest edge

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Loose colonies

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

5 - 6

Incubation Days:

12 - 13

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Few wood chips in tree.

Migration:

Migratory

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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.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Chin

The area of the face just below the bill.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America