IDENTIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN CALIFORNIA OF THE SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS GROUP OF SAPSUCKERS

Abstract

In his recent paper on avian hybridization, Short (1969) recommended that the three sapsuckers, Yellow-bellied Sphyrapicus varius, Red-naped S. nuchalis, and Red-breasted S. ruber be treated as distinct species, thus opening a new chapter in a long controversy. S. ruber was described as a new species in 1788 by Gmelin. Ridgway was the first to suggest its subordination to S. varius in 1872 and again in 1873 and 1874. In his Birds of North and Middle America (1914) he returned to treating it as a distinct species.