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Bird name:

Williamson's Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus thyroideus

Order

PICIFORMES

Family

Woodpeckers (Picidae)

Code 4

WISA

Code 6

SPHTHY

ITIS

178208

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous, Mountains

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Loose colonies

Breeding Population:

Fairly common to uncommon

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

3 - 7

Incubation Days:

12 - 14

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Few wood chips in tree.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Williamson's Sapsucker: Medium-sized woodpecker with black back and white rump. Throat is bright red, breast is black, belly is yellow, and flanks are barred black-and-white. Black head has white facial stripes. Wings are black with large white patches. Female is pale brown and black-barred overall with brown head, darker brown cap and throat, black breast and yellow belly.

Range and Habitat

Williamson's Sapsucker: Breeds from southern British Columbia south to southern California, central Arizona, and central New Mexico. Spends winters in the southern part of breeding range and in the southwest. Ponderosa pine forests, open coniferous forests, and subalpine forests in the southwest are preferred habitats.

Breeding and Nesting

Williamson's Sapsucker: Three to seven white eggs are laid in a cavity in a pine or fir tree; although nesting trees are reused, a new hole is chiseled each time. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Williamson's Sapsucker: Feeds on sap, bark cambium, ants, wood-boring larvae, and moths of spruce budworms; drills holes in trees, returning to feed on seeping sap.

Readily Eats

Suet, Sunflower Seed, Nuts, Sugar Water, Fruit

Vocalization

Williamson's Sapsucker: Call is a soft, nasal "churrr" that descends in pitch.

Similar Species

Williamson's Sapsucker: Three-toed, Hairy and Downy woodpeckers lack bold, white wing patch, red chin, and yellow wash on belly.

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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.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

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