Sphyrapicus nuchalis

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Vegetation: tropical lowland evergreen forest, pine forests, tropical lowland evergreen forest, pine-oak forests, gallery forests • Maximum Elevation: 3,300 meters • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,632 meters (0 to 11,916 feet).Mean = 1,468.860 meters (4,819.094 feet), Standard Deviation = 651.460 based on 4,410 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre.

Ecology:
List of Habitats :1.1Forest - Boreal 1.4Forest - Temperate 1.9Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane

Biology

Diet

Mostly:

Plant Matter

Lesser Quantities of: Insects Fruit

Reproduction

• Breeding Habitat : Woodland
• Nest Type : Cavity
• Clutch Size: 4-5
• Length of Incubation : 12-13 days
• Days to Fledge : 25-29
• Number of Broods: 1

Migration

Short distance migrant

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Sphyrapicus nuchalis Baird, 1858
2. Sphyrapicus varius subsp. appalachiensis Ganier, 1954
3. Sphyrapicus varius subsp. varius (Linnaeus, 1766)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 27-Dec-2005.

Similar Species

White patch on wing coverts sets sapsuckers apart from all other woodpeckers. Red-naped can hybridize with Red-breasted, so attention should be paid in zone of overlap for birds showing unusually large amounts of red about the head or breast. Males are distinguished from male Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers only by the red nape spot and incomplete frame to red throat of Red-naped Sapsucker. Females are somewhat easier to distinguish, as they differ in these characters, as well as having quite different throat patterns (white in Yellow-bellied, red and white in Red- naped). It is worth noting that any sapsucker in juvenal plumage after late fall must be a Yellow-bellied. Beware of rare hybrid Yellow-bellied x Red-naped Sapsuckers, and the occasional Yellow- bellied Sapsucker which may show a red nape spot.

Members of the genus Sphyrapicus

There are approximately 18 species in this genus:

S. nuchalis (Red-Naped Sapsucker) · S. nuchalis nuchalis · S. ruber (Red-Breasted Sapsucker) · S. ruber daggetti · S. ruber ruber · S. ruber x · S. ruberx nuchalis · S. ruberx or · S. thyriodeus · S. thyroideus (Williamson's Sapsucker) · S. thyroideus nataliae (Rocky Mountain Williamson's Sapsucker) · S. thyroideus thyroideus (Western Williamson's Sapsucker) · S. varius (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker) · S. varius appalachiensis (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker) · S. varius daggetti (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker) · S. varius nuchalis (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker) · S. varius ruber (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker) · S. varius varius (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker)

Bibliography

• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• Bird Reference Citations. The numbers inserted in the text accounts above (usually in bold) refer to references. For further details on these references, click on the BirdLife International link above to go to the specific species account on the BirdLife web site. In some cases, particularly in the taxonomic notes, the references are cited using the author names. Details for these can be found on the BirdLife International web site at the following two places: For References from A–L. For References from M–Z.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
• Richard C. Banks: Formerly included in S. varius
• Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• BirdLife International 2004. Sphyrapicus nuchalis. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 21 October 2006.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 4, 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 05, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 11 providers.
• Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
• Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
• Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 17, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 05, 2008:

• Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
• Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
• Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum
• Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• UCLA-Dickey Bird Collection (UCLA-Dickey): Bird specimens
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
• University of Colorado Museum: Zoological specimens
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2474821
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-178211
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13826705
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 178211
• IUCN ID: 47307
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNYF05040
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 13041

Footnotes

©2004-2008 the BayScience Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.