Yesterday I found this juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Centennial Park in Canon City,CO. I have been seeing fresh sap wells in the pine trees in this traditional sapsucker wintering park for over a week but had not seen it in there. I spotted it about 50 feet up a large deciduous tree before flew into the pine on which it is drilling in this pic. Unlike adult birds, this sapsucker has very little red in it's crown.
Red-naped Sapsuckers have already molted into the head pattern of adult birds by the end of September so there is no issue with separating these from Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. This bird has a white throat while a Red-naped female would have only half white and the bottom half red but I would not call this a female Yellow-bellied as I watched as birds with white throats molt into the fully red throat of a male bird. It's dark feathers are more black than brown as it is far along in the transition to adult plumage which will be basically completed in the next several months. SeEtta
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