Now that I have your attention, we are talking Sapsuckers! This past weekend I was able to catch up with three of the four sapsuckers in the US. 

The rarity – Red-breasted Sapsucker

Native to the West Coast of North America this bird rarely strays as far East as Arizona. Luckily for Alex and I we were able to catch up with this stunning woodpecker that chose a random parking lot tree to call it’s home for the winter. Now if you are new to this you might be wondering why I just called this bird a woodpecker, well that is because it is. Sapsuckers fall under the bigger umbrella of woodpeckers. The Red-breasted has an all red head that (true to name) bleeds down into the front of the bird. Like all the rest of the sapsuckers it also sports and large white stripe down its side, which is the white on the birds coverts. Although very happy to see this bird ten minutes from my house it wasn’t in the best position for pictures as it hunkered down in the shade of the tree. 

After that bird we did a nice hike at Madera Canyon, one of my all time favorite spots to Go Birding. We ran into a handful of Red-napped Sapsuckers that can be found here in southern Arizona in winter months. This sapsucker looks a lot like Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers out east. 

But our main goal was the Williamson’s Sapsucker, another bird that spends its winter months here in southern Arizona. Unfortunately we had no luck stumbling into a Williamson’s at Madera. I did follow some tapping which I thought was a woodpecker to find a White-breasted Nuthatch. In this part of the country it would be part of the Nelsoni Group, interior west, most likely S.c. nelsoni. Yes- we will talk about Subspecies sometimes, don’t be scared of it. Subspecies is another great way to learn more about the diversity of birds and the complex science behind the world of ornithology.

Alright sapsuckers again, while striking out at Madera for a Williamson’s, Alex saw an alert for a male Williamson’s that was being seen in the town park of Patagonia. We decided to make a little trip of it and headed to Patagonia. Our first stop was Patton’s, with new bathrooms on site and a brand new parking lot it is better than ever. Of course Violet-crowned Hummingbird did not disappoint. After Patton’s we made our way to the town park and it wasn’t hard to find the other birders staking out the sapsucker. 

To me the Williamson’s is the best looking of all the sapsuckers, with the contrasting black and white pattern on the face, red throat and yellow on the breast, hard to beat. The sapsucker lingered near the top of the tree allowing a long study of the bird, finally more birders showed up and Alex and I decided to head across the street for lunch at Gathering Grounds – always a tasty place to eat while in Patagonia. After our sandwich we did some more birding along Harshaw Creek before calling it a day. 

While birding might suck sometimes sapsuckers most certainly do not and seeing three in a weekend does not either!

Go Birding,

Jeremy