Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Scientific name:	Sphyrapicus varius
Date:	Summer 1999
Time:	1400
Length of time observed:	30 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	Adult
Sex:	Male
Location:	South Ogden
County:	Weber
Latilong:	?
Elevation:	4200
Distance to bird:	Held in hand
Optical equipment:	None needed
Weather:	Sunny
Light Conditions:	Excellent
Detailed description of bird:	Our back yard is wooded. My wife and I heard a bird hit a back window. Often the birds that hit the window are just stunned but this bird broke his neck and was dead. We picked him up and compared to pictures of woodpeckers in "A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America". He was identical to the bird pictured on page 185 of that edition of the book (on page 199 of present edition).
Song or call & method of delivery:	He was dead when we saw him
Behavior:	As above
Habitat:	He was in scrub oak covered yard
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Other woodpeckers were eliminated by close inspection of the hand held bird.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	We regularly have downy and hairy woodpeckers and flickers in our yard.
References consulted:	See above
Description from:	From memory
Observer:	Robert and Dorothy Igo
Observer's address:	5070 Doren Drive, Ogden UT 84403
Observer's e-mail address:	r-igo@attbi.com
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	None
Date prepared:	received 14 June 2002 (General Public)
Additional material:
Comments:	I didn't know how rare this bird was or I would made an earlier attempt to report him. We have since seen similar birds on the Hamm's Fork river in Wyoming. They fly from fence post to fence post when you walk a fence line.