Sapsucker, Which Sapsucker Are You?

The back. Is it messy? Or are those two rows of bars? No red nape.

I went on the the monthly Audubon walk at Santiago Oaks Regional Park. The leader, Linette, took us first to a pepper tree a bit in from the parking lot. There was a sapsucker moving in the branches. The sapsucker did its thing which is sucking sap as it moved around and up and down the pepper tree sticking its bill into sap wells it had made or making new ones. A Yellow-bellied or Red-naped Sapsucker? That was the question we were all trying to answer as it moved in and out of the foliage covering the trunk. Not the best views.

Red on the head. See the sap wells on the trunk of the pepper tree?

Now Linette took us there for a reason. Sapsuckers are known to be in this pepper tree, and if you look in the OC Rare Bird Alert, you will see that a Yellow-bellied has been spotted here over the last five years in what appears to be this very pepper tree. But before we jump to conclusions, let me say Red-naped have also been seen in this tree. So, we still have to look carefully. One account on the OC Rare Bird Alert talks about a Red-naped Sapsucker and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker "playing hide and seek" in the same tree.

Again, no red nape, could be two rows of bars or in comparison is this messy?

It is mentioned in many places on the Internet that sapsuckers eat berries from the pepper tree and other trees such as elderberry. Several accounts on the Internet mention pepper trees and sapsuckers. Sapsuckers tend to return to the same trees year after year. Some types of holes the sapsuckers may need frequent maintenance to produce sap.

Why do sapsuckers always stay so close to the trunk sucking sap? How about a nice break out in the open in a nice sunny spot?

Back to the question of which sapsucker was moving around the trunk of the pepper tree at Santiago Oaks Regional Park. Well, the differences between the Red-naped and the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are small and inconsistent. It won't be easy. Looks like the back may be the most consistent difference. So, I am listing the differences in appearance to sort it out--if we can.

Here's the scoop:

Red-naped Sapsucker--Not Rare

The nape is usually red, but not always.

Female has red chin with some white, but sometimes it is all red.

The female also has a red nape, but not always. Sometimes it's white.

The red chin is bordered by an incomplete or broken black line.

Has white barring on the back in two rows.

Is the line around the red under the chin broken or solid? Hard to tell here.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker--Rare

The nape has no red, except sometimes it does have red.

Females has a white chin.

The red chin on the male is completely bordered by a thick, black line.

Has extensive white barring on the back. Kind of "messy" looking some say whatever "messy" looks like.

Black border around the red looks solid here.



According to Sibley, most western birds of both species tend to have more red. And we are in the West. Can't get much further west unless its Bolsa Chica or Upper Newport Bay.

Could be solid.



So let's look at some more pictures. It wasn't even a dark and stormy night, but they came out kind of dark.

Hmmmmm.

Sure is a busy little Sapsucker!

Not much help here.

Definitely all red under the chin. For what it's worth.

Here is my video of the sapsucker that is either a Red-naped Sapsucker or a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. You can see it in HD at my vimeo site here. So for what it is worth, here it is:

Mysterious Sapsucker at Santiago Oaks Regional Park from OC Birder Girl on Vimeo.

So we await the official determination from our walk's leader. When the decision comes out, I will post it. Until then, have fun out in the OC birding near the shore or in the oak woodlands or in the hills. Sometimes birding in Orange County brings up a challenging mystery to solve. There are lots of great places to bird in Orange County. So have fun birding in Orange County!

I have included a number of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Videos and a Red-naped Sapsucker videos done by other people that they graciously allow other people to embed in their sites. So take a good look and get a feeling for what these sapsuckers look like in good light.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker from birdfreak on Vimeo.

Check out Birdfreak's video of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Has a great blog called BirdFreak . Check it out.

Another video:

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Work from MaineNatureDiary on Vimeo.

Check out this terrific Video on Vimeo from Maine Nature diary. Great views of Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eating Orange from MaineNatureDiary on Vimeo.

Take a look at the video above. Absoluely awesome shots of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Narrated video of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker from Barfsoup on YouTube. Nice view.

External Links and Resources

All About Birds: Red-naped Sapsucker

All About Birds: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Internet Bird Collection: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Very high quality video.

Internet Bird Collection: Red-naped Sapsucker

High quality video.

Orange County Rare Bird Alert: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Stevc Muskie's Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Video on Vimeo

Excellent view and quality.

Tuscon Audubon Society: Dastardly Duo #32

Challenge of telling the difference between Yellow-bellied and Red-naped Sapsuckers.

USGS: Red-naped Sapsucker

USGS: Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

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A Walk at Santiago Oaks Regional Park

An Acorn Woodpecker --see the stiff tail feathers common to all woodpeckers?

I debated with myself about going on the walk. Organized walks can be of varying quality, but Sea and Sage walks are usually good. Also I had been on this walk before and the leader is very good. So I got up early and headed out to Santiago Oaks. Santiago Oaks Regional Park as you might guess has Oaks. It is also full of Acorn Woodpecker--Melanerpes formicivorus . Other woodpeckers abound in this park as well and we saw many of them on this walk.



Sapsucker. The question of the day is which kind of Sapsucker is it? Yellow-bellied or Red-naped?

We spent a lot of time at the pepper tree looking at this sapsucker. Boy, was it hard to get a look at. Fast moving and near the trunk, it was often blocked by leaves. "For more on this sapsucker see my post Sapsucker, Which Sapsucker Are You?"

Northern Flicker. Red-shafted. Has red wing linings as well as a red under tail.

We had a great day for woodpeckers. We saw Acorn Woodpecker , a Norther Flicker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Yellow -bellied or Red-naped Sapsucker, and a possible Downy Woodpecker.

Stream.

There are streams the run through Santiago Oaks.

Nice grassy area.

Lots of trees and some green areas. But most areas are wild, not lawn type of grass.

Horehound makes good cough drops.

There was a big plant near the beginning of the walk. The horehound above is used in making cough drops and home remedies. I once misspelled it for a class. A rather embarrassing error. "Wrong kind of hore, Karen." Oops.


There are beautiful places to walk in Santiago Oaks Regional Park.

The walk ran from 7:30AM to about 10:00AM. It was a great day for woodpeckers.

Nuttall's Woodpecker on a pine tree.

We saw one active Nuttall's Woodpecker. He was all over this pine tree in a matter of a few minutes.

On top of a pine cone.

Hanging from a pine cone.

Back on top.

Wood rat's nest.

Above is a big mess of stuff looks like a nest of some sort, and it is. A wood rat's nest. The wood rat's nest is also called a midden. The wood rat is also called a pack rat and gathers and saves objects it finds. It likes shiny objects. A famous wood rat in literature is Templeton from the novel and movie "Charlotte's Web." Templeton's pack rat behavior is an important element of the story. Wood rats are nocturnal.

This is a White-Tailed Kite. They hover while looking for prey.

A White-tailed Kite was hunting in a hilly area covered in a lot of grass. I was tempted to stay, but I didn't know the way back, and so had to move on.

Anna's Hummingbird on a perch as usual--surveying the area.

Pleasant walk.

Walking through Santiago Oaks was fun. Click here to see a map of the trails.

On the way back to the parking lot, we crossed another creek.

Interesting stepping stones.

We saw quite a few birds.

Going on a walk with a guide through Audubon and other organizations can have some real positives.

Positives:

1) You have lots of eyes looking and sometimes you will see a bird that you alone would have missed.

2) You have a more experienced birder leading the group, and he or she will know more than most birders will. The leader is often familiar with bird sounds as well and will hear the bird before you see it.

3) The leader will be more familiar with the area and will know where certain birds might be found.

The positives of Sea and Sage Audubon's Santiago Oaks walk far outweigh the negatives. Biologist Linette Lina leads the walks. She knows birds. She knows bird sounds, habitats, familiar haunts of a particular bird, and knows how to explain it all. So although the group may send some birds flying for cover, the leadership of the walk can't be beat. It starts early at 7:30AM on the first Saturday of the month. It is over by about 10:00AM. On a relatively early walk, you are likely to see more animals as well as birds. Once when I went on the walk, we saw deer. I have heard that another time they saw a bobcat.

I left Santiago Oaks and went a short way to Irvine Regional Park to see if I could find the Red-Shouldered Hawks a couple was talking about having seen there not too long ago. (See my post Birding at Irvine Regional Park .) You can pick up a lot of information from the other people on a bird walk.

So when you are thinking of a walk, remember that going on an organized walk can be a fun way to go birding in Orange County.

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