** Reply to note from Don Cecile -

> Hi tweets, I thought a few people might be interested in the recent
> appearance of a Red-naped Sapsucker in Port Alberni (mid vancouver island).
> This species has never before been recorded locally (although there are a
> few other records for the island) and has been rather cooperative over the
> past few days.

Ed Swan ran into a Red-naped Sapsucker at Benjamin Pt. on Moresby I, Q.C.I.
Sep. 5, 1997. Just an interesting data point for the coastal birding crowd.

> I am uncertain as to the sex of the bird and perhaps someone may be able to
> comment on the following:
>
> 1) the red on the throat and chin is extensive and bright however there is a
> weak white line along the lower mandible (amount of white is variable in
> females)
> 2) the black facial markings (lines) are not as solid or as dense as I
> thought they should be for a male, (assuming of course that its moult is
> complete) thus the red on the throat becomes confused with the black lines
> that are supposed to be along its border
> 3) the red nape is really not all that red. The red nape colour is
> approaching orange and is clearly not as red nor as bright as the throat and
> crown.

Orangey nape is consistent with a young male Red-naped. However, the three
sapsuckers hybridize freely in their zones of contact in the interior of B.C. A
lot of the crosses have exactly the confusion of malar striping you note. You
may be looking at a mutt.

- Jack

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Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca