Northern Flicker, Colaptes Auratus

Day 170: Well! This portends a crop of little baby Flickers in the future! These photos were taken just two days apart, and I'm not sure which bird has taken to drumming on the ridgepole of my house (might be either or both), a fact which both annoys and amuses me. I love my Flickers, but when the house starts rattling, I step out the door, clap my hands and speak loudly when I say, "Get offa there, you pecker!" It usually works, but occasionally the guilty party will just give me the eye and return to drilling. At that point, my voice goes from "loud" to "shout," and my clapping becomes insistent. And, as you might have expected, the bird flies off, only to return before I can close the door behind me.

So...how do you tell a male Northern Flicker from a female? The male sports a moustache! I've zoomed in on the faces here to show Mr. Flicker's red "mo," a marking absent in the female. The local residents are the Red-Shafted race, although I've seen some intergrades with Yellow-Shafted here as well. In the Yellow-Shafted race, the male's moustache is black and he wears a red patch at the back of his head.

Desperately Seeking Protein

Day 116: A faint, dry sound registered subliminally, drawing my eyes to the big Doug fir at the corner of my front yard. I waited, standing as still as it is humanly possible to stand, and then in the deep shadow at the base of the tree, somewhat obscured by the branches of a minor shrub, a "piece of bark" moved, its toenails making the scratchy noise as it progressed around the tree. For the next ten minutes, a Northern Flicker (Red-Shafted Flicker) diligently probed the deep crevices in Big Doug's hide, always staying in the shadow. Then at last, the bird moved into the single brush-free spot of sun three feet up from the tree's base, rapping a few times, then gobbling down the insects raised by the vibration. At times, the Flicker's entire head would disappear from sight as it sought bugs deeper in the cracks. I was amazed that the bird's skull would fit into such a narrow opening. I wonder what's hatching, that it draws two insectivorous bird species to my yard on a biting-cold February day? It must be good, because the Thrushes were back in force again today after a 17-degree night, desperately seeking protein in the leaf litter.

The Acrobat

Day 111: Colaptes auratus cafer (Red-Shafted/Northern Flicker) knows how to strike a balance. This handsome "woodpecker" uses its tail in a manner Olympic gymnasts could rightfully envy. Not only does it employ it as a counterweight, but also for leverage. Here at one of my feeders, Flicker executes a yoga-style "upward dog" in order to peck at a suet cake, using the stiff tail to push against the base of the box. This action lessens the amount of grip needed by its talons, and the bird can dine at leisure. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Flicker beat Newton to the punch by centuries!

Northern Flicker, Colaptes Auratus

Day 86: While walking through the snowy, dim stillness which is Longmire's wintertime Trail of the Shadows, a small movement drew my eye to the base of a tree and caused me to stop my walk until I could identify its source. It was no easy task, the light dimmed by overhanging cedar boughs, but when a few seconds later, a bit of brown-flecked "bark" moved again, it revealed itself to be a Northern Flicker, foraging in a cavity. Intent on its business, the bird plunged its head time and again into the hole, emerging after several probing thrusts with its beak to look 'round for potential predators. It must have felt I wasn't dangerous, because it allowed me to move closer until I had a clear view through the lens, although it continued to perform its safety checks between bouts of searching in the hollow until I moved on.

The bird we call "Northern Flicker" is a member of the woodpecker family. Colaptes auratus is further broken down into "Red-Shafted" and "Yellow-Shafted" members (western and eastern variants respectively). Our Red-Shafted Flicker males can be told from the females of the species by the bright red malar ("cheek") marking. In flight, these birds reveal reddish underwings and the distinctive "beat" which gives them the name "Flicker."