Hybrid Red-breasted X Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber X S. nuchalis), Pena Blanca Lake, below Upper Thumb Rock Picnic area, Santa Cruz County

This hybrid Red-breasted X Red-naped Sapsucker was discovered and photographed by Alan Schmierer on 07 October 2010.

In general the Red-naped breeds in the Rockies and the Red-breasted breeds in the Sierras. In the area between, the Red-naped also breeds in the higher isolated "island" mountains throughout the Great Basin. There is some overlap of ranges in the Lake Tahoe area, the southern Cascades of Oregon.  Hybrids are more common in winter in Arizona than are pure Red-breasted. 

Hybrid characters: The red of the forehead "bleeds" into the crown and into nape area. The black of the supercillium is encroached with red. The white malar line stops well short of the breast and black "V" on the upper breast is all but obscured. Perhaps yellower wash on the breast and belly than an average Red-naped. The retrices are perhaps whiter than most Red-naped. And perhaps less white in the primary tips than Red-naped.  In addition, pure Red-breasted Sapsucker has no black between the red and the yellow on the breast.  The amount of black on the breast of this bird is intermediate between Red-breasted and Red-naped. 

07 October 2010, photo by Alan Schmierer