A western counterpart to the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
Williamson's sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker belonging to the genus Sphyrapicus (sapsuckers).
Source: Wikipedia — Williamson's sapsucker Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Male: black back, white wing patch, two white face stripes, yellow belly, red throat. Female: brown barred 'zebra' back, brown head, and a black breast patch — utterly unlike the male.
Similar species. Red-naped and Yellow-bellied sapsuckers show red crowns/throats in both sexes; Williamson's extreme sexual dimorphism is unique.
Voice. A nasal, descending 'cheeer' and an irregular, stuttering drum.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Insects (especially wood-boring beetle larvae), some fruits and seeds.
Behavior. A sapsucker of western mountain conifer forest that drills sap wells and eats ants; the sexes look so different they were once described as two species.
§ Range
Western US mountains
§ Habitat
Coniferous mountain forests
§ Threats
Forest loss.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the williamson's sapsucker is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support western forest conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Williamson's sapsucker
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Sphyrapicus thyroideus
- IUCN Red List — search for Sphyrapicus thyroideus
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Sphyrapicus thyroideus
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
