Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)

This is a distinctive wing feather from the 'Yellow-shafted' form of the Northern Flicker. The bird is a large, brown woodpecker with a black bib, spotted belly, and a white rump patch visible in flight. In the East, the undersides of wings and tail are bright yellow.

Striking bright yellow-to-golden rachis (shaft). The vane is dark brownish-black with distinct, pale yellowish-white spotting or notches along the outer margin.

Pennaceous and tightly interlocked along the distal portion for aerodynamic efficiency; plumulaceous (fluffy) at the very base for insulation.

Smooth and stiff vane with a waxy, glossy appearance on the rachis. The trailing edge is softer than the rigid leading edge.

The diagnostic bright yellow rachis combined with dark brownish vanes and pale marginal spotting is unique to this species/subspecies group.

Open woodlands, forest edges, yards, parks, and agricultural lands. Highly terrestrial for a woodpecker, often foraging on the ground.

Widespread across North America, from the treeline in Canada and Alaska through the eastern and central United States. Migratory in the northern parts of the range.

Primary cavity nester; they excavate holes that are later used by many other species (owls, bluebirds, squirrels). Significant predator of ground-dwelling ants.

Red-shafted Northern Flicker (has a red/pink rachis) and the Gilded Flicker (found in desert southwest, slightly different vane patterning).

Unlike most woodpeckers, Northern Flickers primarily eat ants and beetles plucked from the ground. The 'Yellow-shafted' and 'Red-shafted' forms interbreed in a large 'hybrid zone' across the Great Plains.

Good to Fair. There is some minor separation of the barbs (venting) and slight wear at the tip, suggesting it may be a naturally molted feather.