Northern Flicker

Photo by Robert Shantz

Description & Range: The Northern Flicker is in the Woodpecker Family and is fairly large with a long slightly down curved bill. It has a barred back and a spotted belly, but what is most notable is its black bib. This bird is widespread throughout the United States, Mexico and even Canada. Here in Arizona, the Northern Flicker (Red-Shafted) is very common. There is a subspecies (Yellow-Shafted) that is uncommon in the west but is easily distinguished from one another by its bright yellow underwings and slightly brown face and throat. If it’s a male, it will have a black malar. To confuse things further, there is a Gilded Flicker, a separate species that is also in Arizona. It is identical in appearance to the Northern Flicker (Yellow-Shafted) but is slightly smaller with a brown crown and a more oval bib. So when you see a Northern Flicker with yellow underwings, be sure and check its crown and bib. In a recent field trip, a Yellow-Shafted variety was seen in a tree along with the Red Shafted. This made it easier to see that both crowns were grayish with no brown and the bib looked the same. One thing to note – these birds sometimes interbreed and this can really make it confusing.

Food & Foraging: Their main diet is ants (more than any other North American bird). They will also occasionally eat seeds, acorns, nuts and grain.

Breeding: They will nest on a snag or a variety of holes and occasionally will usurp Bank Swallow burrows. They have one to two clutches a year with 5-8 white eggs. Large clutch sizes of up to 12 usually represent output of two females. Both sex’s brood, but it is usually the female.