Northern Flicker - Photos by Bruce Dayton - Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

ORDER: Piciformes
FAMILY: Picidae (Woodpeckers - 23 Species)
SPECIES: Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker can be quite helpful in reducing insect pest populations. During winter it frequents suet feeders.
SIZE	The Northern Flicker is a medium-sized (11-14") woodpecker.
DESCRIPTION	The adult are broad-winged and long-tailed. Both variations have brown with black bars on the back and wings. Their breast and belly are beige with black spots with a black crescent on breast and a white rump, seen in flight. Sexes are similar in appearance except male has a black or red mustache stripe and the female has a brown one or none at all.
NESTING	Clutch size ranges from 6-8 eggs, which are incubated in 11 to 14 days. The mating pairs nest in a cavity in a tree or post that they excavate. Abandoned flicker nests create habitat for other cavity nesters. The young are fed by regurgitation and leave the nest about 25 to 28 days after hatching.
RANGE	They range from Alaska east to Newfoundland and south throughout the states. The northern most populations migrate to the southern parts of the range, while southern birds are often permanent residents.
HABITAT	The Northern Flicker prefers to habitat wooded areas that have stands of dead trees, forest edges, open woodlands and farmlands.
DIET	Although they can find insects in trees, they prefer to find food in the ground. They use their large beak to dig in the dirt and their long tongue to lap up the ants. Ants are their favorite food and represent a large portion of their diet, but they also eat other insect as well as seeds, nuts, and small fruits. Flickers eat more ants than any other bird.
SPECIAL	The Northern Flicker has two color-forms found in different regions. Where the two color-forms range overlap, they interbreed producing many variations. Yellow-shafted: These reside in the eastern and northern parts of the United States and Canada. They are entirely yellow under the tail and underwings and have yellow shafts on their primaries. They have a gray cap, a tan face, black moustache and a red crescent on the nape. Red-shafted: These reside in western parts of the United States and Canada. They are entirely red under the tail and underwings and have red shafts on their primaries. They have a brown cap, a gray face, red mustache and no red on the nape.

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The images on this web page are copyrighted © 2003 - 2007 by Bruce Dayton. I want to share my photos to promote conservation and to help people identify and learn about the birds and other creatures that live with us on the North American continent. Please do not use any of my work in any non-profit or for-profit project without first getting written permission from me. You can ask for permission by emailing me at webmaster@wildlifeofnorthamerica.info. All reproductions must bear an appropriate credit.




Northern Flicker

Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary Tompkins County, New York


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Sapsucker Woods Tompkins County, New York	Groton Township Tompkins County, New York


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Flicker Drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes