Last Saturday afternoon I spotted a woodpecker in our yard that I couldn’t identify. Both my Audubon Society field guide and the Cornell University Ornithology site had nothing that looked like it.
Any of you birders know what it is?
Update 11 PM: Most of the folks on the CarolinaBirding mailing list think its a yellow-bellied sapsucker, though not everyone agrees. According to the Cornell site, these birds are supposed to have a distinctive white stripe running down their side. Also, this one’s crown is black rather than red. Other than that it looks to be a female YB sapsucker, perhaps an immature one.
Jeff Pippen said this:
Wow Mark, that is one funky woodpecker. Perhaps a Hairy X Y-b Sapsucker hybrid?
Dave Magpiong of Bellmawr, NJ had this to say:
At first look, the overall impression (shape, posture, majority of plumage, etc.) comes across as female YB sapsucker. However, there are variations that I’m not familiar with – i.e. black on crown, missing that trademark white patch on the wing coverts.
My gut call goes for YB sapsucker but very curious to hear what others think!
Here’s a photo of a similar YB sapsucker also missing the white stripe (but including the red crown). Maybe mine is a mutant after all.
Thanks to everyone for weighing in!
It looks like a Downy Woodpecker to me. They are pretty small; but, larger than a sparrow. The Hairy Woodpecker is a bit larger with the same plumage. I think wikipedia has a pretty good picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downy_Woodpecker I recommend Sibley’s for the most help in identification. Although I’ve found one of those smaller “Birds of Carolina” books to be pretty good.
I should mention that we saw two immature Bald Eagles last week at the lake house. Usually the crows mob a single; but, they make themselves scarce in a hurry when there are two raptors about in close proximity!
Hi,
Looks like a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I’ve also got a couple hanging around.