Likely Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted form); also called Yellow-shafted Flicker or Common Flicker.

A small-to-medium woodpecker with a brown, black-barred back, spotted underparts, and a dark chest crescent. It often feeds on ants on the ground and gives a loud, ringing call.

Warm cinnamon or rusty orange-brown lower vane with a dark charcoal-to-black tip and a few small dark marks. This resembles the yellow-shafted flicker’s warm underwing/undertail coloration, but the shaft color and subspecies cannot be confirmed from the photograph.

Pennaceous, close-set barbs form a coherent vane; fine barbule details and any aftershaft are not resolved.

Slender, straight, pale tan rachis; orange-brown barbs transition sharply to dark barbs near the tip.

Smooth, flat, matte-to-slightly-satin vane; no clear fraying is visible.

Probably from the tail, suggested by its narrow tapered form and dark terminal area; a body or wing feather cannot be ruled out from this view.

Rusty orange-brown coloration, contrasting dark tip, and narrow tapered outline; these traits suggest a flicker but are not conclusive alone.

Open woodlands, forest edges, parks, and yards; forages mainly on the ground and nests in tree cavities.

Northern Flickers occur across much of North America; many northern birds migrate, while populations farther south are often resident.

A cavity-nesting insectivore that helps control ants and other insects; its excavated cavities can later provide nesting sites for other wildlife.

Other flicker forms and woodpeckers may share dark-tipped brown feathers; shaft color and the full pattern are needed to distinguish them reliably.

Flickers are unusual among North American woodpeckers for spending much of their foraging time on the ground, especially searching for ants.

Feathers have cultural significance in many Indigenous traditions; possession and use may be regulated. Avoid collecting wild feathers unless local laws permit it.

Photograph both sides beside a ruler and compare with regional feather guides; note shaft color, banding, and exact shape. Check local laws before keeping found feathers.

Appears largely intact with no obvious major breakage; condition is at least fair, though close inspection is not possible.