>How often do Red-naped Sapsuckers appear west of the Cascades? Do these
>birds migrate? Today, with a SAS Community Bird Project group in
>Woodinville, we saw a Red-naped Sapsucker (juvenile, I believe, though my
>bird guides don't illustrate juvenile plumages). It was working a
>well-drilled fruit tree in an old orchard.
>Brenda Senturia
>Bbsenturia at aol.com

If you saw a juvenile sapsucker, I would say there is a good chance that it
was a Yellow-bellied (of which there are only a couple of records for the
state, thus a *hot* bird). Red-naped typically have molted out of their
juvenile plumage by this time of year, or at least they have most of their
red head feathers (may still have speckled breast). Yellow-bellied spend
their first winter in their immature plumage. It would be worth
documenting this bird thoroughly and photographiing it.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
web site: http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html