Northern Flicker (Red-shafted variant)

The Northern Flicker is a large, brown woodpecker with a black breast decorative 'necklace' and spotted underparts. This feather displays the brilliant red-orange flash used in flight displays, distinguishing the western 'Red-shafted' group from the eastern 'Yellow-shafted' group.

Striking salmon-pink to reddish-orange pigment on the underside and along the rachis. The dorsal surface is primarily grayish-brown (fuscous). There are no distinct spots visible on this specific feather, common in outer primaries.

Densely interlocked pennaceous barbs throughout most of the vane for flight rigidity; some plumulaceous (downy) barbs visible at the very base of the calamus.

Stiff and relatively smooth; the leading edge is particularly rigid to withstand wind pressure during flight. The surface has a slight waxy sheen characteristic of woodpeckers.

Bright salmon-red rachis and inner vane coloration; strong asymmetry; stiff, curved woodpecker-style primary structure.

Open woodlands, forest edges, suburban yards, and parks. Unlike many woodpeckers, they often forage on the ground for ants.

Western North America, from southern Alaska through Mexico. They are migratory in the northern parts of their range but resident in the south and west.

Primary cavity nesters that create homes for many other 'secondary' cavity nesters like bluebirds and small owls. They also help control ant and beetle populations.

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker (identical shape but yellow pigmentation) and Gilded Flicker (found in desert Southwest, has different facial markings and slightly different yellow-orange hue).

Northern Flickers are one of the few North American woodpeckers that are strongly migratory. They also have exceptionally long tongues that wrap around the back of their skull to help extract ants from the ground.

Fair to Good. There is significant fraying and separation of the barbs (split vanes) along the trailing edge, suggesting this was a naturally molted feather near the end of its life cycle.