Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), Along the Santa Cruz River south of Cortaro Rd. in northwest Tucson, Pima County

This juvenile-plumaged Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was found and photographed by Dave Stejskal on the Tucson Valley CBC along the Santa Cruz River. south of Cortaro Rd. on 20 December 2009.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a rare but regular visitor to the state with a few reported every year.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Red-naped Sapsuckers differ in the timing of molt.  This makes Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers of this age relatively easy to identify.  Juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers molt on the wintering grounds and retain their dull, brownish head, back, and underparts feathering until early winter.  Red-naped Sapsucker juveniles on the other hand molt into first-basic plumage before they leave the breeding grounds and sport an adult-like facial pattern and back pattern in the fall and winter. 

20 December 2009, photo by David Stejskal