Flickers Last Stand

by Kym Backland

Title

Flickers Last Stand

Artist

Kym Backland

Medium

Photograph

Description

I took this picture of the Red Shafted, Northern Flicker just before he got kicked out of the "Birdhouse Condo" by the bigger and more fiercely territorial Cooper's Hawk! I love these Flickers. They are the color and epitome of style of the bird world. (for our area) about the most colorful!. I hated to see him go. Here are some of those facts about one of my favorite Woodpeckers.
Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. 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 color in the wings � yellow if you�re in the East, red if you�re in the West � and a bright white flash on the rump.Size & Shape Flickers are fairly large woodpeckers with a slim, rounded head, slightly down curved bill, and long, flared tail that tapers to a point. Color Pattern Flickers appear brownish overall with a white rump patch that�s conspicuous in flight and often visible when perched. The undersides of the wing and tail feathers are bright yellow, for eastern birds, or red, in western birds. With a closer look you�ll see the brown plumage is richly patterned with black spots, bars, and crescents. Behavior 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-and-down path using heavy flaps interspersed with glides, like many woodpeckers.
Habitat Look for flickers in open habitats near trees, including woodlands, edges, yards, and parks. In the West you can find them in mountain forests all the way up to treel

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August 15th, 2013

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