Lifebirders

When the “yellow-bellied” sapsuckers were split up, this fine creature instantly became the most abundant member of its genus–and a desirable bird for observers from the east.

This very snazzy male Red-naped Sapsucker is occupying a traditional wintering site in Catalina State Park, just steps away from the gradually filling campground. Denis’s Friday morning walks often begin at this tree, where the woodpecker can usually be counted on and the freshly drilled sap wells draw such desert hangers-on as Verdin and Anna’s Hummingbird.

Thanks to its starring role on the CSP walks, this individual sapsucker stands a fair chance of accounting for a significant percentage of all the checkmarks added next to the species’ name on birder’s lists this winter–anywhere. By the time he moves north next April, this bird may have one of the biggest lifebirder tallies for any member of a regularly occurring species on the continent.