Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted or Red-shafted Flicker)

The Northern Flicker is a large, distinctive woodpecker known for its brownish body heavily barred with black, a white rump patch visible in flight, and colorful underwing shafts. Unlike most woodpeckers, they frequently forage on the ground for ants and beetles.

Distinctive barred and spotted pattern featuring alternating brownish-gray and white bars, with dark brown or black spot markings toward the tips

Mix of pennaceous upper portions with tightly interlocked barbs and loose plumulaceous lower bases with downy barbs

Soft yet resilient texture with a smooth, matte finish on the pennaceous tips and a fluffy base

Distinctive horizontal black or dark brown barring on a grayish-brown background, coupled with rounded feather tips and a fluffy base

Open woodlands, forest edges, clearings, burnt forests, parks, and suburban areas with scattered trees

Widespread across North America, extending from Alaska and Canada down through the United States to Central America and Cuba

Flickers are crucial keystone species; as cavity excavators, they create homes for numerous secondary cavity nesters including bluebirds, swallows, owls, and small mammals

Red-bellied Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker body feathers, though flickers are easily distinguished by their bold, barred mantle patterns

Northern Flickers are one of the few migratory woodpeckers. They are specialized ant eaters, consuming thousands of ants in a single day using a sticky, barbed tongue that can extend up to two inches beyond their bill tip.

Good condition, showing minor natural wear at the base where it attached to the follicle, with intact barbs along the vane