Williamson's sapsucker
Sphyrapicus thyroideus
Identification Tips:
- Medium-sized woodpecker
- White rump
- Dark tail with black and white barring on centralmost and
outermost retricies
Male:
- Black head, breast, and back
- White postocular stripe extends to nape
- Pale moustachial stripe is fairly thin
- Red throat in adult male, white throat in immature male
- Black wings, with white barring on flight feathers barred and
bold white patch on wing coverts
- Bright yellow belly, with some black and white barring on flanks
Female:
- Entirely pale brown head
- Pale back barred with black
- Dark brown wings spotted and barred with white
- Heavily barred breast and sides
- Pale yellow belly
Similar species:
Male distinctive, and while his white patch on the secondary
coverts identifies him as a sapsucker, he is patterned like no
other sapsucker (or woodpecker). The female is somewhat more
subtle, and is the only sapsucker to lack a white wing patch, but
no other woodpecker shares her broadly pale back barred with brown
and brown wings spotted with white.