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Are these Woodpeckers? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter redgenie
- Start date
Hi Redgenie,
And welcome to Bird Forum. These birds are Northern Flickers, which are a species of Woodpecker. Very nice birds too.
And welcome to Bird Forum. These birds are Northern Flickers, which are a species of Woodpecker. Very nice birds too.
weather
Pirate name: Poncy Henry Goodfellow
Looks like Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus)
http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/s...searchText=flicker&curPageNum=1&recnum=BD0427
Mike
http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/s...searchText=flicker&curPageNum=1&recnum=BD0427
Mike
Grousemore
Senior Member
Male and female Yellow-shafted?...haven't got any books to hand.
buckeyegal
Member
We had a mini flock of about 8, late last August. No camera ready, but it was amazing to watch them playing around our neighbour's yard. A sure way to attract them and swallows, is to dethatch your yard. That way the grass is all fluffed up and they can really get to the insects and grubs! Here is my flicker, enjoying some suet!
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Ghostly Vision
Well-known member
Stunning Picture!!!
GV
GV
snowyowl
Well-known member
if you've got a pair then you may be in for a treat next summer. sometimes I will flush as many as 6 from along my driveway. I'm not sure what they are after along there, it could be gravel or it could be ants, but every year we get multiple flickers in the late summer. My flickers almost never come to the feeders for some reason. They really go for my purple grapes, ignore the green grapes and sometimes attact the shingles of the house, presumably after shingle flies. It's not unknown that I go to see who's knocking at the door and not to find anyone but to flush a flicker off of the house.
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crispycreme
Well-known member
Hi redgenie, welcome to BirdForum!
It should be mentioned (if it hasn't already) that everyone's pics in this thread (including yours) are all of the "yellow-shafted" variety of Northern Flicker. Snowyowl's pic in particular gives an excellent view of those yellow shafts on the wing. Fortunately the yellow-shafted and red-shafted forms of the flicker are easier to tell apart then by trying to see the oft-hidden shafts. The y-s has a red crescent on the back of the head and a black malar (moustache) stripe, whereas the r-s has no red on the back of the of the head, and a red malar stripe. If you're interested in keeping lists, it's quite possible that these two varieties might one day be "split" into two separate species, (as they once were), and you get both types in your neck of the woods - so be on the lookout for the Red-shafted too!
It should be mentioned (if it hasn't already) that everyone's pics in this thread (including yours) are all of the "yellow-shafted" variety of Northern Flicker. Snowyowl's pic in particular gives an excellent view of those yellow shafts on the wing. Fortunately the yellow-shafted and red-shafted forms of the flicker are easier to tell apart then by trying to see the oft-hidden shafts. The y-s has a red crescent on the back of the head and a black malar (moustache) stripe, whereas the r-s has no red on the back of the of the head, and a red malar stripe. If you're interested in keeping lists, it's quite possible that these two varieties might one day be "split" into two separate species, (as they once were), and you get both types in your neck of the woods - so be on the lookout for the Red-shafted too!
