Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Scientific name:	Sphyrapicus varius
Date:	1/12/2021
Time:	2:00pm
Length of time observed:	10 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	juvenile
Sex:	male
Location:	Ophir Canyon
County:	Tooele
Latilong:	40.371757, -112.248638.
Elevation:	6,600ft
Distance to bird:	3m
Optical equipment:	Nikon 10x42 binoculars
Weather:	sunny, calm, mild, 37F
Light Conditions:
Description: Size of bird:	medium sized woodpecker
(Description:) Basic Shape:	typical woodpecker
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Mostly mottled brown
(Description:) Bill Type:	chisel shaped
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	There is a house on the east end of the town of Ophir that has feeders, so I always stop there to see what birds were around and as usual it was very active. I had heard the tapping of a woodpecker but was unable to locate it, but as I was heading back to my car I heard the distinctive "mew" call of a Sapsucker, so I turned around and went back to the feeder house and in an apple tree across the street I heard the call and saw a sapsucker flush and fly up into the cottonwoods nearby. I tried to get a look at it to ID, but as usual it went into hiding, going behind the trunk and branches, all I was certain was it wasn't a Red-breasted or male Williamson's. So I just waited around for a bit hoping it would give better looks, and in a few minutes it returned to the apple tree and began eating apples again giving excellent looks. Immediately I noted it was in juvenile plumage with a mottled brown back and belly, but did have a red crown and throat, but no red on the nape, making a juvenile male Yellow-bellied. (see photos)
Song or call & method of delivery:	Heard giving the "mew" call several times
Behavior:	Feeding on apples in a tree roadside, also went up into a cottonwood
Habitat:	Riparian corridor along a small creek in a deep canyon, but a few houses around with some cultivated trees
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Red-naped Sapsucker: Should have completed 1st formative molt by October, red on nape, less white on the back Williamson's Sapsucker(female): should not have red on crown little or no striping on face Red-breasted Sapsucker: Should have completed 1st formative molt, more red on head, throat and breast
Previous experience with this & similar species:	Yes,several
References consulted:	memory
Description from:	From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Bryant Olsen
Observer's address:	84102
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	Lauri Taylor found it later that day
Date prepared:	1/13/2021
Additional material:	Photos
Additional comments:	eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79146066