Northern Flickers: part of the woodpecker clan

Last weekend while observing one of our several bird feeders I noticed a stranger to the suet block. As he approached the suet block I observed a flashy color in the wings, a bold white rump in flight, and a black necklace above a speckled chest. I could see by his appearance and behavior it was a woodpecker and after reviewing my “Birds of Idaho field guide”, I discovered it was a Northern Flicker.

He was a fairly large woodpecker with a slim, rounded head slightly down-curved bill, and long, flared tail that tapered to a point. The Northern Flicker has a brownish overall appearance with a white rump patch that is conspicuous in flight and often times visible when perched. The undersides of the wing and tail feathers are bright red. With a closer look I could see the brown plumage was richly patterned with black spots, bars and crescents.

Flickers are usually found in areas dominated by trees; they also occur in treeless areas where utility poles, wood-sided homes, and other structures substitute for trees. They are often seen hopping on lawns where they catch ants and other insects with their sticky tongues. Winter is a good time to watch flickers; with the leaves off many trees, the birds are more easily seen.

Flickers can be recognized by their undulating flight—wings flapping as the bird flies up and wings folded on the way down. Signs of roosting, nesting, and feeding sites are likely to be seen in wooded areas where there are old, large trees that have some dead or rotting wood on them. Look for fresh wood chips on the ground below an excavation site. A popular feeding tree is obvious because of the number of holes in it. Flickers use various visual displays, including head-weaving and body-bobbing, during courtship and as signs of aggression toward intruders. The most active displaying occurs early in the breeding season, before nest-building, when the birds are pairing and there is competition for mates.

Northern Flickers spend lots of time on the ground, and when in trees they’re often perched upright on horizontal branches instead of leaning against their tails on a trunk. They fly in an up-an-down path using heavy flaps interspersed with glides, like many woodpeckers.

On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. When they fly you’ll see a flash of red color in the wings and a bright white flash on the rump.

Both male and female flickers excavate the nest, the male doing substantially more than the female. Complete excavation may take only a few days in soft wood, but averages 14 days. Eggs are laid on wood chips created during excavation of the nest.

Both sexes feed the young, which leave the nest after 24 to 27 days. The parents continue to feed the young once they fledge, and soon the young begin to follow the adults to foraging sites and gather their own food. Individual flicker are known to return to the same area to breed year after year.

If you offer suet at your feeder, flickers may become regular visitors, especially in winter.

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