Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker is a common woodpecker found in North America.
Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
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Description:
They come in two different colors--the Yellow Shafted Flicker
is found in the northern and eastern regions, while the Red Shafted
Flicker is found in the West. This is a medium to large bird, 11-12
inches tall, with a wingspan of 17 to 20 inches. They weigh between
3.88 and 5.65 ounces.
The color of Northern Flickers is grayish-brown with a black crescent
shape on the chest. They are barred on top and spotted down below. The
yellow or red wing is easy to see in flight. The male bird has
a red or black mustache stripe while the female either has none
at all or a brown one.
Diet:
Northern Flickers are one of very few woodpeckers that find their
food on the ground-- in this case, they eat ants. They will also
consider eating seeds and fruits if necessary. They love to eat ants,
which are their favorite food and would rather find their food on the
ground, and while they will eat fruits or seeds in a pinch, the Flicker
is rarely seen feeding at
bird feeders. They dig the ants out of the dirt and lap them up
with their long tongues.
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Northern Flickers interesting to watch feed on the ground. Unfortunately not everyone gets to see them. If you are fortunate enough to see them in your yard please tell us about them.
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What Other Visitors Have Said
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The Trio Treat
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About an hour prior to sunset and I heard some unusual peep like sounds on the gravel drive in front of my home. There were 3 flickers. Their behavior ...
New Visitor to our yard
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A pair of Yellow Shafted Flickers showed up on the lawn this morning. A couple of hours later I spotted one of them in the front yard on the sidewalk. He(...
Woodpecker moved in without my say.
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A Northern Flicker (or a pair of them?) has moved into my house. He or she had pecked away at my siding to make a hole in it and has removed the insulation ...
Help With Woodpeckers!
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THE YELLOWHAMMER HAS BEEN A DEVIL TO MY LAKE HOUSE. IT DESTROYS THE "DRYVIT" EXTERIOR COATING OF THE HOUSE AND PECKS A HUGE HOLE IN THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE ...
THE RESCUE
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TODAY A BEAUTIFUL NORTHERN FLICKER FLEW INTO MY WINDOW AND FELL IN THE BUSHES IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. I HAD TO RESCUE IT FROM IN BETWEEN THE BRANCHES OF ...
Mount Vernon Northern Flickers
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We have bird feeders hanging in our plum tree outside our kitchen window. We have a variety of birds who come to feed, but were delighted to see a couple ...
Nesting Habits:
Flickers make their nests in dead trees by digging a hole. The
different colored Flickers do breed with one another so you might see
an offspring that has varying degrees of these two colors. On occasion
they will also mate with a Gilded Flicker, with the Gilded Flicker
considered to be a species on its own. Northern Flickers have clutches
with anywhere from 3 to 12 white eggs.
More Information:
They can be found in open areas, such as woodlands, on the edge of the
forest and is also common in urban areas. The species breeds across all
of North America from Alaska down through northern Canada and the
United States, as far south as Central America and Cuba. The Red
Shafted Northern Flicker breeds from Alaska south to the western part
of North Dakota and Colorado, and then south into Mexico. They spend winters
in areas of southern Canada and southward from there.
Their song sounds like wik-wik-wik or wik-a-wik-a-wik-a with a single
"peah" on the end. Although the bird likes to forage on the ground, you
still can find them hammering on trunks of trees.
Of particular note is the fact that the Yellow Shafted Flicker is the State Bird
of Alabama, although it goes by its local name of Yellowhammer.
According to history, in the Civil War, Confederate troops from
Huntsville, Alabama joined the war with yellow-trimmed uniforms and
were jokingly referred to as yellowhammers.
Read more about the Flicker Woodpecker
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