Northern Flicker

The Northern Flicker is a beautiful and common brown woodpecker with black scalloped plumage. Unlike many woodpeckers they can be frequently found ground foraging. They breed or are year round residents of much of North America, parts of Mexico and Central America. Non-breeding areas are southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, southeastern New Mexico and Texas.

Adult Male (spring/summer)

Head is gray with wash of brown on forehead and bright red malar stripe. Bill is large and down curved. Nape and chin are gray. Black bib on upper breast, lower breast, belly and undertail coverts tan with black spots. Back is brown with horizontal black bars. Rump is white and uppertail coverts are white with some dark flecks. Upper wings are brown with horizontal black bars and red shafts to flight feathers. Under wings are reddish-orange. Tail from above black with reddish-orange rachis and from below reddish-orange with black tips.

Adult Female (spring/summer)

Similar to male but lacks bright red malar stripe.

Juvenile

Similar to respective sex adult.

General:

Large woodpecker with long, slightly downcurved bill. Length: 28-31cm. Wing: 42-51cm. Weight: 110-160grams.

Behaviour:

Northern Flickers spend a lot of time on the ground digging for ants and beetles, and are often flushed from the ground exposing the white ‘banner-mark’ of their white rump. They often perch upright on the horizontal branches of trees instead of using their tails as a prop like other woodpeckers. Their flight is undulating using heavy flaps interspersed with glides, like most other woodpeckers.

Habitat:

Flickers are common and widespread in a variety of habitat from open woodland areas to gardens and parks and even in mountain forests up to the tree line. Although similar to other woodpeckers in some behaviours, such as climbing up trunks of trees and hammering on wood, the flickers preference for ants which it laps up with its tongue, means that it is generally found on the ground. The Northern Flicker is also different to most other woodpeckers in that it is strongly migratory moving south for the winter from the northern parts of their range. Like other woodpeckers, they generally nest in cavities in trees but may nest in holes or burrows vacated by other birds such as Belted Kingfishers and Bank Swallows. Clutch is 5-8 white eggs. Many people notice flickers in the spring when their loud drumming on metal objects as a form of communication and territory defense draws attention. This drumming can carry for distances up to almost a mile.

Information:

Although similar to other woodpeckers in some behaviours, such as climbing up trunks of trees and hammering on wood, the flickers preference for ants which it laps up with its tongue, means that it is generally found on the ground. The Northern Flicker is also different to most other woodpeckers in that it is strongly migratory moving south for the winter from the northern parts of their range. Like other woodpeckers, they generally nest in cavities in trees but may nest in holes or burrows vacated by other birds such as Belted Kingfishers and Bank Swallows. Clutch is 5-8 white eggs. Many people notice flickers in the spring when their loud drumming on metal objects as a form of communication and territory defense draws attention. This drumming can carry for distances up to almost a mile.

Similar species:

Gila Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Conservation Status:

Listed as Least Concern. However, according to North American Breeding Bird Survey numbers declined cumulatively by 46% between 1966 and 2010.

Capture Rates:

A resident of Colony Farm, the Northern Flicker occupies the forested perimeter of the park. Capture rate peaks during the winter months reflecting increased foraging movement as food sources become more scarce.

Molt Summary:

PF: HY incomplete (Jun-Oct); PB: AHY incomplete-complete (Jun-Oct); PA absent.
Preformative molt includes no to few inner lesser covs and med covs, occasionally 1-3 inner gr covs, all pp and rects, and occasionally 1-3 inner ss (among s7-s11), but usually no pp covs.
2nd PB: usually includes all wing covs, pp, and rects, but only 1-5 outer pp covs. 1-4 ss sometimes can be retained during this molt, usually in a block among s1-s5 and often symmetrically.
Subsequent PBs: from 1-4 ss occasionally can be retained, among s1-s8, seldom in a block and less often symmetrically in both wings. A variable number of pp covs also can be retained during the 3rd and subsequent PBs, although these molts often are complete.

Following their preformative molt, hatching year (HY) woodpeckers retain all of their juvenal primary coverts. Second year (SY) birds have all juvenal primary coverts until their second prebasic molt, when they replace up to several outer juvenal primary coverts. Until their third prebasic molt in their third year, third year (TY) birds therefore show two distinct generations of primary coverts – very worn and often abraded juvenal inner primary coverts and fresher replaced second basic outer coverts. (see also Downy and Hairy Woodpecker accounts).

This SY in October has completed its second PB and replaced several outer primary coverts. Notice the visible dark brown and fresh outer primary coverts contrasting with the faded brown and abraded, consecutive inner primary coverts.

This TY female in June (below left) is also showing replaced outer primary coverts from the birds second prebasic molt last year now making her a third year (TY) bird.

During their third prebasic molt, TY woodpeckers normally replace most if not all of their primary coverts and at this molt any retained juvenal coverts will almost always be replaced.

The wing of the Northern Flicker in October (below right) is also a 3rd year bird based on the presence of three different generations (one being juvenal) among the feathers of the wing. The wing shows the typical mixture of retained (more brown and worn) juvenal middle primary coverts and fresher (blacker and less worn) second basic outer primary coverts (i.e., molted in the birds’ second fall after hatching) and third basic inner primary coverts (i.e. molted this year in the bird’s third fall after hatching).

With the turn of the calendar year these birds will become after third year (ATY), specifically referring to a bird alive in its fourth calendar year.

During the third prebasic molt, TY woodpeckers ordinarily will replace most or all of their primary coverts (in particular, any retained juvenal coverts will almost always be replaced at this molt)
It is only because this bird (yellow-shafted) happened to retain one juvenal primary covert that we know she probably is a TY bird.  Otherwise the appearance of her primary coverts, even if they were comprised of mixed generations of non-juvenal feathers, would not have been different from some ATY birds (i.e., a bird having undergone a fourth or subsequent prebasic molt), and we would have to use the less precise, ASY, age designation. (Thanks to Bob Mulvihill – Powdermill Avian Research Center)