Joe and all, Actually in all likelihood your sapsucker is a juvenile Yellow-bellied. Red-naped Sapsuckers undergo molt out of juvenal plumage early. They undergo molt from June to October and should be in Basic I plumage by now per *Birds of North America* online. The lack of red on the nape is another indicator that this is not a Red-naped as this characteristic is present early in the molt out of juvenal plumage. Ken Kaufman in his Advanced Birding states, "So any 'obvious immature' after September is pretty certainly a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
SeEtta Moss Canon City Blogging for Birds and Blooms magazine @ http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/author/seetta-moss/ Personal blog @ BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com<http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Joe Mammoser <[email protected]> wrote: > Cobirders, > I went to Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins over my lunch period today > to try and see if some of the Red Crossbills have settled in there. I did > not see a Crossbill, but found a late immature Red-Naped Sapsucker. It was > flying from tree to tree at the north-west corner of section 8 and > north-east corner of section 1. It would land on a tree for only 3-4 > seconds and would then fly to another. It is molting into adult plumage on > the wings and lower back. It is already showing the yellow in the breast > and lower belly. I could see that the black line separating the throat from > the side of the face was incomplete. I could not discern any red on the > nape. > > Joe Mammoser > Fort Collins > Larimer County > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/fU8LzvYfrDQJ. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
