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| Red-bellied Woodpecker |
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| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Photos courtesy of Sharon Milligan)
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I suppose that one who is regarded as a teacher is
expected to know it all, or most of it. Or at least pretend to. That would be
pretentious. Actually, there are very few finites in birding; whether it's done
at a professional or an amateur level, there is always something to be learned
as we pursue the excitement, the wonder, and the adventure of birding.
From a learning standpoint, some of my most gratifying moments have come
just a few steps outside my door, and, surprisingly, they involve birds that
are quite common.
Just yesterday morning, I stepped outside for a listen (it works for
me). The sounds went onto a mental list --- Mourning Doves, Eurasian
Collared-Doves, Blue Jays, Fish Crows --- commoners, every one. I heard a
one-note cry, baby-like, sort of "mewing," and it was sounding at
about 8-second intervals. I confidently added Yellow-billed Sapsucker to the
log, even though I couldn't recall hearing one call so persistently in the
past.
But I decided to stay out there for a while, and the more I listened,
the less confident I became. For one thing, I couldn't find the bird. For
another, the sounds continued for well over an hour, from the same place,
fairly high up in the oaks. I thought to myself that it might have been a
squirrel, but it didn't sound quite "squirrely" enough.
The situation demanded a follow-through, so I spent another good
half-hour scanning up and down the trunks and heavy tree limbs, to no avail. No
sapsucker, no squirrel.
I picked it up again later in the day, because I couldn't let things
stay unresolved. I decided that the sound was coming from directly above me.
Wry-neck had set in before I found a sapsucker, about 40 feet overhead; it was
well-blended into the bark, and wearing the swaddling clothes that nature
endows upon juvenile sapsuckers --- not a trace of red (adult males have red
atop their heads, and red throats while adult females have only the red
crowns).
I came inside, picked up the Sibley guide and there read that young
yellow-bellieds retain that juvenile plumage until March. I wouldn't have
learned that if I hadn't been goosed by the bug of curiosity. And, I would have
pondered over the sound for the rest of my life. Now I know that my self-confidence
was not misplaced, and that's a good feeling.
It happens that just as I was about to come back inside, I heard the
distinguishable notes (says I) of a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and saw its
silhouette against a distant tree. It flew closer, into the light, and I
looked, just because the Red-bellied is a handsome bird. Imagine my surprise
when I saw that its head was golden/orange. Had I been in Texas or Oklahoma, I
wouldn't have given it a second thought. I would have said to myself,
"Golden-fronted Woodpecker." And that's because we all drift into the
habit of identifying birds by our expectations and our geographical
orientations.
I remembered a day many years ago when a call came in from Ocean
Springs; a Golden-fronted Woodpecker was hanging out in a yard that had once
been an orchard. That spiked an invasion of birders before the sun had risen
over the yardarm. It was easy to find the bird and it certainly looked like a
Golden-fronted Woodpecker.
We just didn't look far enough, and I didn't learn my lesson until after
I called my personal walking field guide, Kenn Kaufman in Arizona, at an
absurdly early hour for there. He suggested we look at the rump and tail, and
he further suggested that we consider "aberrant" plumage, but he had
used a scientific word.
Aberrant plumage happens with many birds; our "Golden-fronted"
was actually a "Red-bellied" with too much yellow pigment. The word
Kenn had used is xanthochroism --- a dominance of yellow coloration in the
absence of normal amounts of darker pigments. It's a very rare condition in
wild birds.
With that egg-on-face memory dancing around in my head, I took a good
look at my yellow-headed Red-bellied Woodpecker, focusing on its rump and tail,
noting the black-barred rump patch and the white central tail feathers. How
interesting that I have seen xanthochroism only twice, both on the Coast, and
both instances involved a Red-bellied Woodpecker!
And I must again recommend the Sibley guide, which brings to the fore
some lessons that I have learned the hard way.
This article was published in March 2002
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