Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted or Red-shafted)

The Northern Flicker is a large, distinctive woodpecker with a brownish body barred with black, a white rump patch visible in flight, and a crescent-shaped red or black mark on the nape. Unlike many woodpeckers, they spend a significant amount of time on the ground foraging for ants and beetles.

Dark brownish-black base with striking white or buff-yellow oval spots and distinct transverse bars across the vanes. The rachis is pale greyish-white.

Pennaceous upper vane with tightly interlocked barbs and barbules, transitioning to a slightly plumulaceous (fluffy) base with a small, rudimentary afterfeather.

Smooth, firm, and semi-glossy along the pennaceous tip, becoming softer and fluffier toward the base.

Distinctive dark brown or black background with bold white spots and transverse black barring.

Open woodlands, forest edges, clearings, brushy areas, and suburban yards with scattered trees and dead snags.

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

Primary cavity nesters that create holes in dead trees, which subsequently provide essential nesting and roosting sites for numerous secondary cavity-nesting birds and mammals.

Other woodpecker species such as the Red-bellied Woodpecker or Downy Woodpecker, though their patterning is typically striped or strongly ladder-backed rather than heavily spotted and barred like the flicker.

Northern Flickers have exceptionally long, barbed tongues that can extend up to two inches beyond the tip of their bill to scoop up ants and their larvae.

Good condition, intact vane with slight wear at the extreme base.