Yesterday, on Thursday the 2nd, Linda Sullivan and I left Wading River at 5 AM,
arriving at D'town Rd. at 7:25 AM. We had a total of 29 "sure" species for the
day, plus one big question mark at D'town Rd.. We found the birding, for the
above areas, in the first week of June, to be very slow and fairly quiet- with
stiff wind conditions certainly being one of the negative factors.
We had both Vultures, with 2 Blacks seen at Mine Rd. We saw a Yellow-Billed
Cuckoo, in addition to hearing a Pileated Woodpecker at D'town Rd. We had a
total of 6 warblers: Blue Winged; Golden Winged (Mine Rd.); Yellow; A.
Redstart; Common Yellowthroat and Hooded (D'town Rd.). We observed a lone, male
Indigo Bunting, bathing in a stream along Mine Rd. Of the remaining 18 "sure"
species, all qualified as common "breeders".
We think (however improbable it seems to be) that #30 was a male Black-backed
Woodpecker. This brief encounter happened about 9:45 AM, on the road that
"Tees" off the main road, that one takes in from Rt.9W. This intersection
occurs just after passing the pond on your left, and if you make a left turn
here, it will take you to the cemetery nearest the pond. After checking this
area out, we returned to the afore-mentioned "T"and went straight, heading for
the next road on the left, that would take us to the farthest cemetery. About
half way up to this cemetery road, Linda and I were startled by a dark bird
that had flown over the road about 15-20' in front of us, and was flying away
from us rather quickly. Our next impression was that it looked and flew like a
woodpecker. When we got binoculars on the bird, all we could see was the upper
half (tail, back, wings and crown)of the bird- we did not see any white outer
tail feathers, the bottom half of the bird, nor the rest of the head ( face,
bill, etc.). What we both did see was a completely black upper half, except for
the crown which was yellow. We took the size to be smaller than N. Flicker and
Lewis's W., (which I had seen recently near Rochester), but larger than
Red-headed, Red-bellied and Hairy Woodpeckers. We agree with the description
found in Sibley's Guide to Birds that reads " appears large-headed, short-
tailed". The only specie we know of that has similar size and general plumage
is Yellow-headed Blackbird, but we discounted it, because of the bird's white
primary coverts, tail/ body proportion, and flight style. A short while after
it disappeared, we tried playing an "I- phone", to no avail.
After reading about the BBWO in the following publications: The Atlas of
Breeding Birds in N.Y.S., Robert F. Andrle and Janet R. Carroll, Editors; The
Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in N.Y.S., Edited by Kevin J. McGowan and
Kimberly Corwin; Birds of N.Y.S. by John Bull; Bull's Birds of N.Y.S., Edited
by Emanuel Levine; Feild Guide to the Birds of N.A., National Geographic; The
Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley; A Natural History of American
Birds of Eastern and Central N. America by Edward Howe Forbush and John
Bichard May, we believe we have the responsibility to document this sighting,
even though we know of the questions, and/or the skepticism it will surely
generate. We will be submitting this sighting to NYSOA's NYSARC for for it's
consideration.
My previous experience with Black-backed Woodpecker is limited to 5 sightings-
the 1st 3 in the Connecticut Lakes area of New Hampshire, the 4th in the Lake
Placid area of New York, with the last being in the Saranac Lake area of New
York.Their respective dates are: 6/22/91; 6/26/92; 6/25/93; 9/12/97 and either,
6/1 or 2/ 02. The '92 and '93 sightings were of both parents (possibly same
pair), at the same tree and nest hole, feeding 2 young. I have seen many
Yellow-headed Blackbirds in both the northwestern & southwestern areas of our
country, as well as at a Centereach, L.I. feeder on 2/25/78.
Cheers, Bob
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