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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Sphyrapicus varius varius (Linnaeus) 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 



Plate 62 



Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. 1:176 

 Zool. of N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 188, fig. 38 

 varius A. 0. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 



1910. p. 190. 



a hammer, and Lat. pints, a woodpecker; varius, Lat., 



P i c u s varius Linnaeus. 

 DeKay. 



Sphyrapicus varius 



No. 402 



sphyrapicus, Gr. acpupa, 

 variegated 



Description. Male: Crown and throat bright red bordered with black; 

 a broad black crescent on the upper breast; upper parts variegated with black 



and yellowish white; a broad stripe of 

 white on the wing formed by the white 

 ends of the wing coverts; wing feath- 

 ers black, bar-spotted with white; tail 

 feathers black, except inner webs of 

 middle pair; upper tail coverts mostly 

 white ; under parts more or less heavily 

 tinged with yellow, especially around 

 the margin of the black breast shield, 

 and the center of the belly; sides 

 dingy brownish white, variegated with 

 blackish. Female: Throat white in- 

 stead of scarlet; crown scarlet in 

 old females but black in young ones, 

 even through the second summer in 

 many specimens; otherwise like 

 male. Young: Similar to adult, but 

 browner, and lacking the black breast 

 shield, and the scarlet on crown 

 not showing till late in the first 

 autumn. 



Length 8-8.8 inches; extent 15-16; 

 wing 5; tail 3; bill 1. 



Photo by James H. Miller 

 Yellow-bellied sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius 

 varius (Linnaeus) 



Distribution. The Yellow-bellied 

 sapsucker breeds throughout the 

 boreal life zone of eastern America from the highlands of Pennsylvania, 

 Michigan and Minnesota northward to Quebec, Ungava and Mackenzie, 



