Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted or Red-shafted)

The Northern Flicker is a large, distinctive woodpecker with brownish plumage, a barred back, a spotted breast, and a prominent red or black crescent on the nape. Unlike most woodpeckers, they frequently forage on the ground for ants and beetles, using their slightly curved bill and specialized barbed tongue. Their undulating flight reveals bright flash colors under the wings and tail.

Rich brown or tan background with prominent, distinct blackish-brown barring and whitish spots along the edges, creating a scalloped appearance

Pennaceous at the tip with interlocked barbs, transitioning to plumulaceous (fluffy) downy barbs near the base of the shaft

Smooth and matte surface texture, moderately flexible rachis with firm upper barbs and soft, fluffy lower barbs

Distinctive tan or brown background heavily barred with dark brown or black bars, rounded tip, and soft basal fluff

Open woodlands, forest edges, clearings, suburban parks, and semi-open country with scattered trees and snags

Widespread across North America, ranging from Alaska and Canada down through the United States and into parts of Central America and Cuba

A keystone cavity-excavating species whose abandoned nest holes provide essential nesting habitat for dozens of secondary cavity-nesting birds and mammals

Red-bellied Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker, though their back and covert feathers feature stark black-and-white ladder patterns rather than brown barring and spotting

Northern Flickers have an exceptionally long tongue that can extend nearly two inches past the tip of their bill, coated with sticky saliva to capture ants in underground colonies

Good condition, fresh appearance with intact barbs and no major fraying, splitting, or UV bleaching visible