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Old 05-14-2015, 09:08 AM   #1
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Help ID a Woodpecker

While I enjoy photographing birds, I am far from an expert on Identifying them. In our area the most popular woodpeckers are the Downey, the Hairy, and a few Pileated. Anyhow, I have seen this one a couple of times and it doesn't match any of the photos in my bird books or my iBirds app.

It loves to find unusual things to drum on - here is it using the metal bottom of a broken mail box; you can hear it from 1/4 mile away. It is a bit larger than a Downey, a bit smaller than a Hairy, but is the only woodpecker I've seen with red under its bill. The face striping is similar to a Pileated, but there is no tuff on the top of the head, the neck seems wrong, and it is much smaller. Anyhow, here are a couple of photos - any help would be appreciated:
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Old 05-14-2015, 09:21 AM   #2
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My Peterson Field Guide suggests it might be a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Their range does include the Northeast US & Canada. They seem to have a unique red throat patch. Perhaps others with expertise will let us know.
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Old 05-14-2015, 09:34 AM   #3
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A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker maybe?

As usual a great picture Jon, regardless of whatever it turns out to be.
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Old 05-14-2015, 09:42 AM   #4
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Their range does include the Northeast US & Canada. They seem to have a unique red throat patch. Perhaps others with expertise will let us know.
North East would explain why it shows up on a very old Woodpecker fold out ID card I kept while cleaning out a box of stuff that came from a family members home (they lived in Nova Scotia).
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Old 05-14-2015, 09:46 AM   #5
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My Sibley Guide to birds identifies it as a yellow-bellied sapsucker, due to two ID clues: The red throat area is completely bordered with black and, of course, location,location,location - An eastern bird!
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Old 05-14-2015, 11:57 AM   #6
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Male Yellow bellied sapsucker it is! Great pics!

Rae Johnson, Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist and avid birder
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Old 05-14-2015, 12:04 PM   #7
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Thanks all! That will learn me for just looking under woodpeckers & leaving out the sap suckers...
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Old 05-14-2015, 12:26 PM   #8
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Thumbs up

You were right in looking under woodpeckers as YBS are in the same family-Picidae. However, woodpeckers are in the genus Melanerpes while YBS and red-napped sapsuckers are in genus Sphyrapicus. Peterson lists YBS under Woodpeckers and Allies.
Keep taking those pics!
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Old 05-15-2015, 01:45 AM   #9
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Smile Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

The people who answered this post are correct.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology


They make that sound called drumming to attract a mate, not just to eat bugs.
You are lucky he is only drumming on the mailbox, I met a fellow who had a woodpecker drum on his Airstream!
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Old 05-15-2015, 05:31 AM   #10
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Thanks all! That will learn me for just looking under woodpeckers & leaving out the sap suckers...
Hi: Jon Vermilye... That didn't take very long to "Drum up" the answer. Just goes to show the power of modern linked in communications. Nice pic's too!!!
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Old 05-15-2015, 08:53 AM   #11
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If a woodpecker wakes you up an hour before you intended by noisy drumming, then it's "a ****** woodpecker".
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Old 05-15-2015, 09:07 AM   #12
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If a woodpecker wakes you up an hour before you intended by noisy drumming, then it's "a ****** woodpecker".
You wouldn't have had that happen a time or three would you Andrew??
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Old 05-15-2015, 09:30 AM   #13
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LOL I hear you (or it) Andrew! I have one that has decided the flashing on the chimney of my home is fun to peck at!
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Old 05-15-2015, 11:04 AM   #14
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" flashing on the chimney" LOL funny.
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Old 05-15-2015, 12:05 PM   #15
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Any idea what these are? We have some drummers at our place! Similar the the original photos posted by Jon, but no tuft on the head. We are in western Washington State. They are rather small in size (body probably 6-7" in length). Beautiful but annoying. They go for our downspouts very early in the morning. I have hung some plastic owls with yellow beady eyes on the porch and we haven't been awakened by drumming since!
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Old 05-15-2015, 12:28 PM   #16
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I should like to stress that this thread has been hijacked and at no point did I admit or even suggest that I had done any flashing on anybody's chimney.
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Old 05-15-2015, 07:21 PM   #17
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I should like to stress that this thread has been hijacked and at no point did I admit or even suggest that I had done any flashing on anybody's chimney.


Thanks for the giggle of the day!
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Old 05-15-2015, 07:27 PM   #18
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Any idea what these are? We have some drummers at our place! Similar the the original photos posted by Jon, but no tuft on the head. We are in western Washington State. They are rather small in size (body probably 6-7" in length). Beautiful but annoying. They go for our downspouts very early in the morning. I have hung some plastic owls with yellow beady eyes on the porch and we haven't been awakened by drumming since!
Maybe a Red Breasted Sapsucker?
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Old 05-15-2015, 08:11 PM   #19
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Good one! Seems we are on sapsuckers!
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Old 05-15-2015, 11:14 PM   #20
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Jon, I was going to post a pileated woodpecker on here so you would have one on this thread. It had swooped into our campsite as soon as we arrived in Door County, Wisconsin, but the photo would not upload. Just as well. I would probably find out that it is actually a sapsucker! I know you have seen some pileateds.
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