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Bird name:

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus ruberOrder: PICIFORMES Family: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Codes: Common Name: RBSA Scientific Name: SPHRUB ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178212
Red-breasted Sapsucker Portrait
Family Woodpecker (Picidae)_blue
Species Sphyrapicus ruber
Length8 - 9 Inches
Wingspan17 Inches

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsucker: Medium-sized woodpecker with black-and-white barred upperparts, pale yellow belly, and white rump. The head, nape, throat, and breast are bright red; moustache stripe is white. The wings are checkered black-and-white with large white patches. Black bill, gray legs and feet.

● Song: "whee-ur", "mew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-breasted Sapsucker: Feeds on sap, bark cambium, insects, especially ants, and some fruits. Drills sap wells in a variety of tree species.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-breasted Sapsucker: Four to five white eggs are laid in a cavity drilled in a tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Red-breasted Sapsucker: Other woodpeckers in range lack large white patches on wings.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid shallow wing beats with short glides.
Red-breasted Sapsucker Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Red-breasted Sapsucker: Breeds from southeastern Alaska and British Columbia south to coastal California. Spends winters in most of its breeding range except interior British Columbia. Preferred habitats include woodlands, forest edges, and groves of aspen and alder.
BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies, Small colonies
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.7 Ounces
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

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.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX