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A Northern Flicker hammering out a home in a rotting tree and spitting out sawdust and wood chips as he goes. His normal appearing black eyes have a gray sheen which is the bird’s "safety googles" – an extra translucent eyelid, called a nictitating membrane that slides out from the side of the eyes when needed for protection.
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) singing its territorial song in the aspen woods north of Thorhild, Alberta, Canada.
15 June, 2016.
Slide # GWB_20160615_5044.CR2
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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.
Northern flickers started showing up a few days ago. We ave had them in the yard.
This one is from April 24, 2022.
Rondeau Provincial Park.
Colaptes auratus
Although it can climb up the trunks of trees and hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers to find food on the ground. Ants are its main food, and the flicker digs in the dirt to find them. It uses its long barbed tongue to lap up the ants.
source - allaboutbirds-org.
This Northern Flicker was still working hard making the hole just a bit bigger, coming out with beakfuls of wood chips.
it was a treat to see this pair of northern flickers engaging in mating rituals. they were displaying to each other by fanning out their tails. He would change his posture and she would do a little dance from side to side. this image is part of the series of photos I took which started on this post and then moved on to a tree
Flicker Portrait.
I really like the spot pattern on this yellow-shafted Northern Flicker in my yard in Chester County, PA
2020_05_20_EOS 7D Mark II_7752-Edit_V1
it was a treat to see this pair of northern flickers engaging in mating rituals. they were displaying to each other by fanning out their tails. He would change his posture and she would do a little dance from side to side. this image is part of the series of photos I took which started on this post and then moved on to a tree
This Northern Flicker hung around just long enough to get a couple of shots. Before I could change any settings on my camera, it took off. You often have to take what you can get before your subject runs off or flies away!
I saw the orange feathers up close , their beauty blew me away....absolutely gorgeous. The next shot is a little bit dreamy as it flew away.
A female Northern Flicker strikes a pretty pose. She was being courted by three males at once.
Image created on Apr 13, 2017 in Brittania Woods, Ottawa, Ontario. It was extremely challenging to get a clear image of any of the 4 birds as they stayed high up in the branches.
-----Prologue-----
“Seems like you have taken up the best spot already!”, I said in half jest to the photographer right next to me while setting up my gear for the above shot of Zion’s Virgin and the Watchman.
“You got that damn right!”, She said with that unmistakable British accent with no audible trace of jest in her response.
-----Act 1-----
To tuck in the Virgin river’s bend into the frame without backing off on millimeters and the Watchman’s proportion in the shot, I had to move my tripod by about four inches to the right. Problem was, firmly planted on the concrete one inch away was the stern British lady’s equally stern tripod leg.
“Would it be OK if I put my tripod right next to yours?” I asked as gently as I could.
“Yeah fine. Don’t trip mine over”, the flinty voice yielded.
-----Act 2------
While waiting for the sun to obey my wish and light up the Watchman precisely as above, I killed time by serving as an iphone-photographer for a group of three giggling Alaskan college girls (who never paid me my paltry fees of $5, do you believe it?), stretching my muscles in all sorts of shapeless contortions, waving at aghast drivers driving past the hoard of us photographers at 5mph, and talking again to my austere British neighbor.
“Are you from around here? Are you a techie in the Silicon Valley?” She asked me. When I told her what I do for a living, she broke out into a laughter and apologized profusely for stereotyping. From there on, our conversation took on a more manageable course. I learned her name was Mickey. Mickey is not on Flickr but she and her incredibly handsome and devoted husband were traveling the US with one sole purpose: landscape photography.
-----Act 3-----
“Why do we do this?” Mickey asked hinting at all the pain undertaken by landscape photographers (or, faux landscapers, like, yours truly).
“I don’t know why Mickey. I guess, we like chasing the light and stopping time.” The nerd in me was having a field day.
“Tell you what, I do it because it keeps me going. I have lost my son to cancer but all this running around with the camera keeps my sixty-year-old mind and body going. You know?” I noticed a hint of moisture in her eyes reflecting the orange glow of the west earnestly.
“Tell you what Mickey,” I said, looking straight at the unexpectedly revealed segment of her core, “you are damn right! To keep going... That is exactly why I do it too!”
-----Epilogue-----
Mickey, if you are reading this, then here is one more reason why I do it: To meet people like yourself on the trail who somehow have that magical ability to touch others in the span of a moment. Thanks for loaning me a pint of your life-blood to keep my soul flickering.
Seeing this Fernandina’s Flicker was a huge thrill during our visit to Cuba. It was explained to us that this bird is critically endangered. Upon further investigation when I returned home the decline of this species is due to habitat loss. What a terrible loss it would be to no longer have these magnificent birds around.
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Colaptes fernandinae
it was a treat to see this pair of northern flickers engaging in mating rituals. they were displaying to each other by fanning out their tails. He would change his posture and she would do a little dance from side to side. this image is part of the series of photos I took which started on a post and then moved on to this tree
I have seen an unbelievable amount of flickers this year. It seems like everywhere I go I hear them or see them. This after not even knowing they existed for most of my life. Sure I knew there were lots of woodpeckers in the world but I had no idea what types lived around me and even in my yard for many years. It is amazing what one can see when they open their eyes and senses to new things. I always find it fascinating when these birds try to hide in the branches instead of fleeing.