Unknown woodpecker?

[Dennis Zaebst]

If anyone can identify this woodpecker, I would appreciate it. It was seen and photographed on October 21, in my back yard woods, in SW Ohio. It's about the size of a Hairy woodpecker, I believe. I apologize for the head angle, but this is the best photo I have of this bird. Is this possibly an immature Hairy?

Thanks,

Dennis

[Dan Brown]

My guess is a juv Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I say Y-B, because of the streaky breast and head and the white on the wing and assuming you shot this in OH, the likelihood of it being a R-Breasted or R-Naped Sapsucker is very unlikely and I couldn't separate the juv's anyway! Nice BG! I wish it was looking our way.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Thanks Dan. This was one of the first photos taken with my new Mark IV. I was taking photos of various birds in my woods, just testing the camera, when this guy flew in and sat still for about 10 seconds, while I was able to get only two shots of him. This was the best of the two. He then immediately flew away deep into the woods.

I haven't seen a sapsucker around here before, but that doesn't mean they aren't there given my poor knowledge of woodpeckers. I Googled Yellow-bellied sapsucker after I read your post, and I believe you are right. The bold white stripe along the wing seems a good clue.

Thanks for the compliments on the BG. I knew this wasn't a great shot, but was intrigued by the identity of the bird.


Thanks again,

Dennis

[Paul Guris]

Definitely Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. You are out of range for Red-naped, which at this time of year should should some amount of red on the head anyway.

Check the trees around your yard. If you see lines of holes on any of the trunks, they are made by sapsuckers. They carve these holes and return later to eat the sap, hence the name "sapsucker". They also eat bugs attached to the sap. If they're fresh and oozing, these sap wells are a good place to wait for the sapsucker's return to get a better photo. It can also a good place to look for warblers and other songbirds that come in and mooch off the sapsucker's hard work. Cape May Warblers in particular seem to take advantage of this food source.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Thank you for the tips Paul. I will check around the trees in the woods. I presume those would have to be live trees, and not dead snags (which most woodpeckers prefer to find insects).

[Paul Guris]

I presume those would have to be live trees, and not dead snags (which most woodpeckers prefer to find insects).

Correct. I've seen some trees with a massive number of old and dried up sapsucker wells, so I don't think it really hurts them very much.