Probable Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (<I>Sphyrapicus Varius</I>) X Red
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Prob ble Yellow-belliedS ,psuc,cer (Sphyr icusv flus)x Red-breasted Sapsucker(S. ru r) bri frome st- ern Kansas,with commentson th field identifiction of adultsapsuckers Abstract 1995),both before and after the recognition of Mark B. Robbins A sapsucker(Sphyrapicus) found 15 Decem- thesesapsuckers as separatespecies (AOU ber 2001 near Lawrence,Kansas was collected 1985), Robbinscollected the bird on 20 De- NaturalHistory Museum andstudied through molecular methods (mi- cember2001 (KUNHM 92332; Figure 3) and tochondrialDNA sequencingand allozyme preservedtissue for analysisby Cicero. UniversityofKansas analysis),consultation with researchers work- ingon hybridization ofsapsuckers, and analy- Age,Sex, Plumage, and 1345Jayhawk Boulevard Geneticsof the Lawrencebird sisof 201 adultmale specimens of Red-naped Lawrence,Kansas 66045 (S. m•chalis)and Yellow-bellied(S. vatit,s) Upon dissection,the bird surprisingly Sapsuckers.We concludethat the individual provedto be an adult female with a granular (eraall:[email protected]) sapsuckerin question is nota Red-napedSap- ovarymass 3.5 x 2 min.Internally, the size suckeras originally identified in thefield but andshape of thegonads coupled with the ab- rathera hybrid,most likely the result of a pair- sence of the bursa of Fabricius indicated that ingof a femaleYellow-bellied with a male Red- thebird was at leasta yearand a halfold. The David E. $eibel breastedSapsucker (S. tuber), thus potentially uniformlydark and freshprimary coverts, thefirst specimen of thishybrid combination theuniformly adult secondaries, and the uni- JohnsonCounty Community College awayfrom the very limited contact zone of formlyadult flight feathers indicate that the ScienceDepartment thesespecies in BritishColumbia. We offer birdwas at leastfour calendar years old (Pyle commentson pitfallsin theidentification of 1997).In additionto havinga typicalYellow- OverlandPark, Kansas 66210 sapsuckersbyplumage, as well as an overview belliedback and ventral pattern (i.e., inten- of reportsof similarsapsuckers in eastern siveyellow underparts), it alsohad the out- (eraall:[email protected]) NorthAmerica. especially the Great Plains re- ermosttwo pairs of rectrices(numbers 4 and gion,where unusually plumaged sapsuckers 5) heavilymottled and tipped with white(in- have occasioneddebates for over a decade. termediatebetween Figure 129A and Figure Carla Cicero 129Bin Pyle[1997]). Adult male Red-naped Field Encounter and Red-breastedSapsuckers (S. ruber)have MuseumofVertebrate Zoology On 15 December 2001, Seibel discovereda the outerrectrix mostly black, and adult fe- sapsuckerwith unusualplumage on the maleRed-naped and Red-breastedhave less UniversityofCalifornia Lawrence,Kansas Christmas Bird Count near mottlingthan femaleYellow-bellied. espe- Lawrence.This individual was initially identi- ciallyon rectrixfour. Berkeley,California 94720 fied as an adultmale Red-naped Sapsucker Mitochondrial(mtDNA) sequencing of a (Sphyrapicusnuthalls) because ofthe presence diagnostic300 bp fragmentof the mtDNA (eraall:ccicero@berkeley. edu) of anextensive red nape and the complete in- cytochrome-b(Cicero and Johnson1995) cursionof redin theblack malar (Figure 1). identifiedthe bird as a Yellow-belliedSap- However,Seibel and othersrecogmzed that sucker.This resultwas confirmed by addi- quencydifferences at purine nucleoside thebird was atypical for an adultmale Red- tionalsequencing of theentire cytochrome- phosphorylase(NP) and aminopeptidase napedbecause of extensivered suffusion on b genefor the Lawrencebird and known leucyl-glycyl-glycine(LGG). Ciceroana- the broad black chest band. When Robbins individuals of S. m•chalis(MVZ 168594) and lyzedLGG for the Kansassample, using the wasshown photographs of the bird, he recog- S. varms (MVZ 168650). However,because sametwo MVZ specimensfor standards, and nizedthat the backpattern (Figure 2) was mtDNA is maternally inherited, the se- foundthe Kansas bird to behomozygous for typicalof an adultYellow-bellied (S. varius). quencedata only confirmed that the mater- the allelethat occurs in higherfrequency in Furthermore,his pastexamination of adult nalparent was varius. S. nuthallsthan S. varius.Attempts to score malesapsucker specimens (see below) had In an attemptto identifyboth parents, Ci- thesame samples for theNP locuswere am- shownthe presenceof extensivered on the ceroalso used allozymes following the work biguous.A reviewof theraw allozyme data napeto be an unreliable character for separat- ofJohnson and Zink (1983).Their study did usedin Johnsonand Zink (1983) revealed ingthese two sapsucker species. Knowing that not find tixed differencesbetween any that two of the eightS. varit•sthat theyex- geneticstudies had been done on sapsuckers speciesof Sphyrapicusother than S. thy- aminedlikewise were homozygous for this (Johnsonand Zink 1983,Cicero and Johnson wideus,although there were notablefre- allele; the other six birds were either het- 360 NORTH AMERICAN BIRD rubel daggetti)and Red- While reviewinga controversialMissour• re- naped Sapsucker--also port of a Red-napedin 1993 (seebelow), showsa brightyellow belly. Robbins examined a total of 120 adult male From a distributional stand- Yellow-belliedSapsucker and 81 adultmale point, a hybrid event be- Red-napedSapsucker museum specimens. tween Yellow-bellied and Of the adult male Yellow-belliedsexamined, nominate Red-breasted is 23 (19%)had red in thenape ranging from a far more probablethan a few red feathers that would not be visible in Yellow-bellied x S. ruber thefield to twoindividuals taken during mi- daggettievent (Campbell et gration near Philadelphia,Pennsylvania al. 1990, A.O.U. 1998). (ANSP 173632 and 173633) that had as Because of the wide much red in the nape as averagefresh- rangein variationin hybrid plumaged,adult male Red-napeds.Except phenotypesamong all three for thered nape, the plumage of bothof the of thesesapsucker species lattertwo individualsappeared to be classic (Howell 1952,Johnson and Yellow-bellieds.In Howell (1952), E. God- Johnson 1985, J. Hudon, frey relatedthat a specimenfrom Megantic M. Gossefin,pers. comm.), County,QuEbec, Canada had an extensive it is uncertain if the amountof red on the napebut showedno Lawrence individual is an otherRed-naped characters. A morerecent F1 or theresult of a back- Quebecrecord of a breedingadult male Yel- cross.Interestingly, except low-belliedwith an extensivered napewas for the Yellow-bellied back documentedwith a color photographat pattern of the Lawrence Saint-Jacquesde Leedsin 1988 (American bird, it is very similar to Birds42: 1225). specimensof Red-naped Sapsuckerx Red-breasted Malar Figure1. Adult female probable Yellow-bellied Sapsucker x Red-breasted Sapsucker, 16 Sapsuckerhybrids of both The coloration of the dark malar in adult December2001, near Lawrence, Kansas. Note that the dark malar is mostly red and the redof the throat masks most of the black chest band. The prominent red nape is visible sexes,e.g., Canadian Muse- malesapsuckers is a valuablecharacter for evenin this profile. Photograph byl(yleGetstrier. um of Nature,Ottawa spec- identification.Adult male Red-napeds usual- imens 47951 and 52385 ly havesome encroachment of thered throat erozygotesor homozygousfor a secondal- (Devillers 1970,Johnson and Johnson 1985, onto the malar.However, this canvary con- lele. Therefore,the allozymedata for the M. Gossdin,pers. comm.). sidembly,ranging from birds that have an all- Lawrencebird are not unexpectedbut un- fortunatelydonot provide evidence toiden- DISCUSSION tifythe paternal parent of thisindividual. Althoughthe genetic data indicate that the Plumagecharacters femaleparent was a Yellow-bellied,we are and their relevance for identi- limitedto an analysisof plumageto inferthe fication identityof the male parent.There are two plausible hypothesesfor the male-like Nape plumagein thisindividual. It is conceivable • mentionedabove, the pres- that the abnormal amount of red on the ence or absence of red in the throatand upper breast are the result of a ge- napeis an unreliablecharacter neticabnormality or an unknownaging phe- for separatingYellow-bellied nomenon,perhaps related to reducedhor• and Red-napedSapsuckers. monelevels (e.g., estrogen). Older females in Kaufman (1990) correctly somespecies may acquire male-like plumage, pointed out that some Red- e.g.,Summer Tanager (Pyle 1997, Owens and napeds,especially worn indi- Short1995). However,our discussionswith J. vidualsin late summer,lack red Hudonand M. Gosselin,who examined pho- on the nape.In mid-July2004, tographsof theLawrence specimen, and our Robbins conducted field work examinationof hybridshave led us to believe m the SouthDakota/Wyoming that the mostlikely explanation for the un- Black Hills and observed 14 usualdegree of redin theLawrence bird is a adultRed-naped Sapsuckers (in hybridizationevent between a femaleYellow- which nape coloration was belliedand a maleRed-breasted Sapsucker. clearlyvisible) with thefollow- As mentioned above, the Lawrencebird ing distribution:one female hasback, rectr•x, and facial patterns of a Yel- with no red, two females and low-bellied,whereas the extensionof the red two maleswith onlya hint of of thethroat masking the black breast band is red, and five birds that had exhibitedonly in Red-breasted.Although the moderate to extensive red Figure2. Dorsalview of the same Lawrence female depicted inFigure 1.The red brightyellow underparts may simply be the napes. napeis conspicuous andthe malar, which ist•pically black in both sexes ofYellow- resultof Yellow-belliedgenes,