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Northern Flicker males engaged in a courting battle over a female flicker a few branches over. This is something Ive seen several times, but I have never been in good spots for photos. Today these guys decided to hash it out on the big maple tree outside my bedroom window, basically at eye level. These two males would stare at each other, then start to bob up and down, side to side while cackling at each other. They would do this for a few seconds at a time then take a rest. Its obviously much harder work on them then it appears ( im sure it being near zero for temperatures didnt help either ) because after several minutes of dancing and flying around to different branches as the female moved, they both started to get less into it and moved much less.
A female Northern Flicker (Red-Shafted) flew in and landed on our Mr. Adams Pine tree, before flying to the Suet feeder.
She came by to join my two male flicker friends.
She is in almost in the exact same pose as I took of one of the males a little while back!
Ahoy there, matey! So ye be landlubbin' on these veritable shores of Mutiny Bay, eh? Heard ye askin' 'bout those feathered critters, the Red-shafted Northern Flickers - the ones with salmon-colored undersides, feeding their juvenile charges? Well, ye've come to the right place!
See, these 'ere waters, Mutiny Bay - and the trees in which these woodpeckers dwell - be named for a bit o' ruckus back in the day. Some say British lads jumped ship and settled these parts, others whisper 'bout a mutiny by the Indian crew of a trading vessel, keen on the cargo and some whiskey, aye!
Now, those Northern Flickers, they be as common as barnacles on a boulder 'round these PNW parts. Ye can spot 'em easy – greyish brown backs with dark checked lines and spots on their bellies like sea charts speckled with black hearts.
And these ain't yer regular, tree-bound woodpeckers, mind ye. These flickers, they like to get down and dirty, hoppin' 'round on the ground, searchin' for ants and beetles with their long, sticky tongues. They've a proper knack for it, they do! Ye'll hear 'em too, a loud rattle or a sharp "klee-yer," sounds like a warning cry to stay off their bounty!
So next time ye spot one o' these Red-shafted Northern Flickers on Whidbey Island, remember the old tales of Mutiny Bay. And give 'em a nod, for they be a part of this island's wild spirit, just like the salty sea dogs of old (like me self).
Now, avast!
Ye be sure to visit & subscribe to www.youtube.com/@TalonsAndTides -- or may ye sleep in the deep o' Davy Jones' locker tonight...yarrgghhh!
Visiting the suet feeder. Each time she was on a tree limb or the tree trunk a squirrel chased her off. Seeing her at the suet feeder was my best opportunity to photograph her. Taken through a window. Backyard bird.
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
Surrey BC Canada
Felt creative and did a few modifications to a photo I took in Palisades, ID a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it.
pattern: Flicker, by Cookie A.
yarn: 'vibrant green' from Kindred Spirits Yarn.
needles: 47" 2.5mm Addi Turbos.
Taken just after sunrise and in an air temperature of two degrees, this Northern Flicker looks comfortable at puff-level five!
Sunlight flickers and Sparkes on part of the Shubenacadie River Locks System today in Enfield l, Nova Scotia.
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.
There were seven eggs, and though it is impossible? to count, it looks like all the eggs hatched.
Mom and Pop are busy tending the newborns; feeding, cleaning, and feeding each other as they take turns tending the nest.
Among woodpeckers, Northern flickers are ground-foraging champs, especially when it comes to ants. Unlike typical woodpeckers, they hop around on open areas or forest floors, using their sharp, curved beaks to poke into soil or flip over debris.
Once they locate an ant colony, they bury their long bill into the soil and jab that long, sticky tongue in, slurping up ants and larvae. They’ll even hammer at anthills to break them open, or forage rotting wood for carpenter ants. An adaptation to expand the food sources in their territory, that most woodpeckers don't utilize.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.