The Northern Flicker

The Northern Flicker is a medium sized bird measuring approximately 12 ½ inches in length with a wing span of 17 to 20 inches. It is a brown woodpecker with black bars on its back and wings. Its breast is off-white with black and brown spots, and a "bib covering its chest. Like all woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker has a heavy, sharp bill, strong neck muscles, and sharp, curved claws.

There are 5 subspecies of Northern Flicker with the most common being the Yellow-shafted Flicker and the Red-shafted Flicker.

The Yellow-shafted Flicker has a red patch on its neck, yellow feathers on the inside of its wings and under its tail. They also have a red bar at the nape of their neck and the males sport a "black mustache."

The Red-shafted Flicker has a red patch under its tail and pinkish-red feathers on the inside of its wings and the males wear a "red mustache." Using the color markings as a means of distinguishing between the Red-shafted Flicker and the Yellow-shafted Flicker is not always reliable. When their territories overlap, there is a great deal of interbreeding.

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Northern Flickers can be found throughout North America. The Red-shafted Flicker usually resides in the western portion of the content with the Yellow-shafted Flicker on the eastern half of the content. Areas where there terrain overlaps, cross breeding is common. They prefer open forests, groves, and orchards. They can also be found in city parks and wooded backyards. Northern Flickers residing in the northern part of the range routinely migrate, sometimes in large flocks.

The Northern Flicker's courtship is a noisy affair. Clusters of both sexes will dance around, nodding, bowing, jerking their tails, and calling to one another. They also chase each other around and through the trees, frequently stopping to hammer on dead tree limbs, tin roofs, and chimneys.

Once paired, claiming a nest site becomes a priority. If a birdhouse is available they will use it, but they usually drill out a hole in a dead tree or telephone pole. Once the hole has been excavated they line it with feathers and grass.

Pairs of European Starlings have been known to drive the Northern Flickers from their newly constructed nest site and claim it for their own.

The female will lay 6 to 8 pure while eggs and both parents spend time incubating the clutch. The eggs hatch at 11 to 16 days. The chicks are fed regurgitated food. They usually leave the nest around 4 weeks of age, but the adults will continue to feed them until they learn to forage on their own. Flickers residing in the north usually have one brood a year but southern subspecies may have two.

The Northern Flicker is an insectivor. They use their bill to dig beetles, ants and larve from the bark of dead trees and stumps. They will also forage along the ground hopping from one place to another. They will also eat fruits, seeds, and nuts. Like the squirrel, they will stockpile seeds and nuts for the winter.

They will ocassionally visit a seed feeder if it is stocked with black pil sunflower seeds, and will readily visit a suet feeder. Mealworms will attract them as well.

The Northern Flicker's call sounds like a sustained laugh, ki, ki, ki, ki, ki, or a wick, wick, wick, or as the name implies, flick-a, flick-a, flick-a, You can also hear their constant knocking as if they were playing a snare drum. It is their way of staking claim to their territory.

Listen to the call of the Northern Flicker: Sound Byte: Northern Flicker, National Park Service

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In a process called anting, the Northern Flicker will sit on an ant hill and let the ants roam through their feathers. Some will even lift their feathers allowing the ants easy access. The ornithologist's believe that the formic acid produced by ants help eliminate the parasites residing in the bird's feathers.

Backyard Birding: How and Why Birds Bathe

The Little Guy
The Downy Woodpecker

Big Brothers

The Red-bellied Woodpecker
The Pileated Woodpecker
The Red-headed Woodpecker
The Hairy Woodpecker
The Northern Flicker

The Illusive One

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker

The Mischief Maker
Woody Woodpecker

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