Hi Chris, everyone-
All North American sapsuckers have a large white wing patch; be they
Red-breasted, Red-Naped, Yellow-bellied, or Williamson's. The key to their
identification is their facial and nape patterns, and, to a lesser degree,
their throats and upper breasts. Back color is a quick fix for a male
Williamson's, as they're all black, and can be helpful as a consideration
when looking at all aspects of the color pattern of an individual bird.
Willy's are pretty distinctive in both sexes from all the other sapsucker
species though, so that shouldn't be an issue. Red-breasted is also pretty
distinctive; with a head that is almost entirely red, and lacking a black &
white facial pattern. The bird you photographed falls into this category.
Red-naped vs. Yellow-bellied, and hybrids of the two (or Red-breasted
hybrids) is where the challenges lie. In those cases I would encourage
anyone to take copious notes of the facial pattern (or, better yet, as many
photos as possible) and compare to field guides and other on-line
resources. Key points to focus on include the/any red on the nape and on
the throat, and the pattern of black bordering the red on the throat.
And even with great views and photos, the specific parentage/species of
some individuals just can't be determined sans a DNA test. But that's what
makes birding fun, right? The challenges are as much a part of it as are
the sure things~
Clay Kempf
Elkhorn
On Wed, Mar 4, 2026 at 4:31 PM Chris Soriano <soriano151...> wrote:
> Now I am finding lots of pics of the red breasted with a large white patch
> on the outside of the wing, what should I be looking for?
>
> On Wed, Mar 4, 2026 at 4:29 PM Chris Soriano <soriano151...> wrote:
>
>> Here is a photo of the possible red naped /red breasted sapsucker hybrid,
>> hoping someone can confirm.
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 5:04 PM Chris Soriano <soriano151...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I just had a red naped /red breasted sapsucker hanging out at some well
>>> established wells in my backyard (no pun intended). Completely red head,
>>> but huge white patches on the outer wing that matched online pics. I will
>>> upload my pics to eBird later, but I was curious if this was common in
>>> Santa Cruz. I usually just see the red-breasted, but there was a confirmed
>>> yellow-bellied sapsucker in my yard on the same wells a few years back. I
>>> saw one once in Yosemite maybe like 10 or 11 years ago. Fortunately the
>>> wells are on the invasive cotoneaster in my neighbor's yard.
>>>
>> --
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