Probable Hybrid Red-breasted
(Sphyrapicus ruber) x Yellow-bellied (S. varius) Sapsucker in
Douglas County, Kansas
(Note: In the three and a half years following its discovery, I presented a number of starkly different hypotheses about this bird’s identity as research continued toward a publication by Mark Robbins, Carla Cicero, and myself. With the help of researchers and birders in several states and Canada, and with a couple of lucky breaks, I believe we finally got it right. It was a bizarre, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enlightening adventure. The long-awaited paper on this remarkable bird, and its implications for field identification of sapsuckers, appears in the Winter 2004-05 issue (Vol. 59, No. 2, 2005) of the journal North American Birds. – DS)
Below are five digital photos of the bird by Kyle Gerstner. The first four were taken on December 16, 2001, at the site described on KSBIRD-L (1.3 mi. N of Douglas County 1800N on Douglas County 950E). Lighting conditions were poor for the first two photos, with heavy overcast, and slightly brighter for the third and fourth; a high-power flash and Fresnel lens augmented the lighting on all four. I retouched the first two photos only by removing background shadows and adjusting the light levels and contrast to correct for the dim conditions. The third and fourth images are as I received them from Kyle. The fifth image was taken at 2:42 PM on December 19, 2001, at the same site. The sky was clear, with relatively harsh lighting; I edited this photo with a reverse contrast mask to reduce some of the heavy shadows on the underparts.
I originally believed this bird to be a highly colored adult male Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), but that identification was thrown into serious question, thanks to careful analysis of the photos by Mark Robbins, Kenn Kaufman, and others. The bird was ultimately collected for further study by personnel at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, with one surprising discovery surfacing almost immediately: the bird was a female, at least three years of age, not a male!
Subsequent biochemical analyses performed by Carla Cicero at the University of California, Berkeley, confirmed that the bird’s mother was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker but were unable to shed light on the identity of the bird’s father. Robbins, Cicero, and I examined sapsucker specimens purported to be Yellow-bellied x Red-naped hybrids and believed that, in each case, the supposed intergradation of characters could be equally well explained by other factors. After a very favorable peer review, we were nearly ready to go to press with the premise that there are no confirmed Yellow-bellied x Red-naped hybrids, and that the Lawrence bird’s appearance was most likely the result of an unknown aging process (perhaps involving a hormonal imbalance allowing the expression of male-like characteristics), when Robbins contacted Jocelyn Hudon, a researcher in Alberta, whom he learned was investigating hybridization in sapsuckers.
Things took a dramatic turn immediately! The new title of this web page indicates how completely we had to revise our interpretation. It turns out that hybridization between Yellow-bellied and Red-naped sapsuckers is common in certain areas (e.g., see Hudon’s preliminary findings), and that Kansas and Missouri may be ideal places to find hybrid offspring. After accepting the possibility that the Lawrence bird really is a hybrid, we realized that it has too much red even for a Red-naped, and we soon learned that a Red-breasted x Yellow-bellied hybrid is not only possible, but also accounts very nicely for the male-like appearance of a female bird, based on the similar appearance of Red-breasted x Red-naped hybrid specimens that we have now examined. If our identification is correct, the Lawrence bird remains the only documented Red-breasted x Yellow-bellied hybrid of which I am aware. As I said in an earlier version of this page (but now one paradigm shift later): “This has interesting implications for field identification of the species [now plural!] and for the true identity of supposed hybrids reported in the literature.” Interesting, indeed ... there may be more hybrids than anyone ever suspected! Watch out for “male” sapsuckers with just a little too much color next winter in Kansas and Missouri. For that matter, watch out for the first “pure” Red-breasted Sapsucker to show up! It seems the genes have already been here.
Image #1: Note the red throat patch obscuring the black malar stripe, as well as the red nape patch. Atypical of Red-naped are the extensive red invasion into the posterior half of the eyestripe, the broad inferior expansion of red both on the breast and on the nape, and the wide pale facial stripes. The underparts also appear much more yellowish in this light than they did in the bright sunshine of the previous day.
Image #2: Again note the head markings, plus the black stripe down the center of the back that separates two distinct lines of pale yellowish-buff barring. The extent of pale barring on the back is not atypical of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but might also fall within the range of that found in female Red-naped.
Image #3: This one shows the back pattern very clearly.
Image #4: Another view of the back and nape, with better contrast and color balance.
Image #5: Taken three days later with much different lighting, this shot shows the extent of the red on the throat and upper breast.
- David Seibel
Last updated August 29, 2005