Curious

by Jill
(San Jose, CA)

Today we saw a gray bird 8-12" with a yellow beak and something yellow on the back of it's head. When it flew away you could see 2-3 white strips on the tail but not the wings.


I feed the small birds and when a hawk comes around they are no where to be seen but this bird did not scare them at all.

Any idea what it could be?

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May 05, 2015
 curious
by: Brook

A Flicker is an ant eater and the meat of a flicker takes strongly like ants, this a defense for them and could possibly be the reason it knew the hawk wasn't interested.
May 05, 2015
 curious
by: Brook

Hi Curious, I believe it is possibly a female Cape Flicker or an immature Cape Flicker. I couldn't find much information on the Cape flicker online but they are in your area. I suggest you call your local Audubon Society because I have have already looked at all the sites available. They are: AllAboutBrids.org,
NationGeographic.com/animals/birding/backyard-identifier/?bird-user_ID, WhatBird.com but I haven't had a lot of luck with this one

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