Proposal (547) to South American
Classification Committee
Transfer Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius from the Hypothetical List to
Main List
Luna
et al. (2011) published details of multiple records of Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius by multiple observers from the Santa
Marta range during the Winter of 2010-2011, including two
photographs. One of these photographs, by co-author Ketil Knudsen,
is excellent and could not be confused; the other by co-author Trevor Ellery,
is a "record" photo. This
paper is available online: http://www.proaves.org/IMG/pdf/CC15/Conservacion_Colombian_15_29-30.pdf . Ginsburg (2012) subsequently published
further details of the observation during which Knudsen's photograph was
obtained, reproduced the same photo, and discussed identification from S.
nuchalis in the winter and vagrant range of S. varius. As Luna
et al. (2011) noted, it seems likely that at least two birds were present in
the Santa Marta mountains: localities at ProAves' Minca property and the
ProAves El Dorado reserve (wherefrom all observations) are a few hours away by
road and hundreds of metres apart elevationally. Luna et al. (2011)
also mentioned a record from the Central Andes of Caldas, claimed on a birding
forum from the same period.\
Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker should be a species familiar to many committee members, given its
North American range. It is known previously from a sight record in
Colombia (Mazar Barnett & Kirwan 2001) and specimens on San Andrés island
(in Colombia, but outside the SACC region). It is also a known
vagrant to other parts of the world, particularly the western Palearctic (Luna
et al. 2011). The occurrence of vagrants, overshooters, or small
wintering numbers in Colombia is expected. The species is virtually unknown
in captivity, least of all in Colombia so a wild origin is presumed.
A
confirmed record of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker within the SACC area of Colombia
is massively overdue. The species'
status to "confirmed on the mainland" was changed last year for
Colombia's checklist (Donegan et al. 2011). The SACC is now invited
to take an equivalent step as regards the South American list. This
may be the least controversial SACC proposal ever and a YES vote is
recommended.
References:
Donegan,
TM, Salaman P, Quevedo A & McMullan M. 2011. Revision of the status of bird
species occurring or reported in Colombia 2011. Conservación Colombiana 15:
4-21
Ginsburg,
P. A. 2012. First documented mainland South American record
of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius. Cotinga 34: 160-161.
Luna,
J.C., Ellery, T., Knudsen, K. & McMullan, M. 2011. First confirmed record of Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius for Colombia and South America. Conservación Colombiana 15:
29-30.
Anonymous, September
2012
____________________________________________________________________________________
Comments
from Zimmer:
“YES. The published photos provide concrete evidence of the
occurrence of this species in Colombia.”
Comments
from Stiles:
“YES. The photographic evidence is incontrovertible.”
Comments
from Pacheco:
“YES. A partir dos múltiplos documentos
disponibilizados.”
Comments
from Nores:
“YES. There seems no doubt that the bird in
the picture is this species.”
Comments
from Jaramillo:
“YES. Interesting that this article actually does NOT detail how to
identify the bird in the photos as a Yellow-bellied, particularly in reference
to Red-naped. Of course Red-naped is very unlikely, but I am surprised that the
editors did not require some information on how the identification is made.
“In
any case the bird IS a Yellow-bellied: ignoring molt timing, the pattern of the
back can be seen reasonably well on the side view. It shows the buffy bits
scattered about on the back, not concentrated as two stripes on either side of
the back. So YES accept to main list.”