Northern Flicker: an Unusual Woodpecker

Look at this bird. It’s not your average woodpecker. Known as the Northern Flicker or Colaptes auratus, it obviously does not fit the stereotype of a woodpecker.

Aren’t woodpeckers supposed to be black-and-white with a bit of red? Like these local examples…

Flickers are woodpeckers too, even if they’re brown-and-tan-colored. And speckled with dots and dashes and bars…

Each one has flashy plumage including a black crescent-shaped bib on its chest…

And a red V-shaped mark on the back of its head…

Flickers are also distinctive in what they eat and how they eat. While the average woodpecker hammers away at a tree to extract insects, Flickers prefer to feed on the ground.

They forage by hopping along and stopping to poke and probe the soil or rotting wood for ants, grubs, etc.

Note the slightly curved beak on this Flicker. It’s perfect for probing into anthills. Each Flicker is armed with an additional special adaptation. It has an extra-long tongue that can extend up to two inches past the tip of its beak to slurp up ants and their larvae from underground…

It’s not hard to distinguish between the male and female Flickers. The male (on the right) sports a black moustache, while the female (on the left) does not.

Taking a break from feeding on the lawn in a cemetery, this female Flicker perches on a gravestone…

In fall and winter, Flickers dine on wild berries and seeds and are more likely to chow down at a bird feeder…

Since Flickers lack the ability to hammer into trees, they’re not able to excavate their nests like other woodpeckers. Instead, they seek a hollow cavity and often compete for nest holes with Starlings.