Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker (Flicker, Yellowhammer)

The Northern Flicker is a large, brownish woodpecker with a black breast bib and spotted belly. The Yellow-shafted variety is distinguished by the flash of gold under the wings and tail during flight.

Brilliant golden-yellow shafts (rachis) and basal vane segments, transitioning into a dark brownish-black or charcoal distal end. Greyish-brown on the dorsal outer webs.

Tightly interlocked pennaceous barbs throughout the vane, becoming plumulaceous (downy) only at the very base of the calamus.

Smooth and glossy on the yellow sections; stiff and slightly matte on the dark tips. The tail rectrices are notably rigid to the touch.

Electric yellow rachis (shaft) combined with a black tip and greyish-brown outer web; rigid structure typical of Picidae flight feathers.

Open woodlands, forest edges, yards, parks, and agricultural lands. Often seen foraging on the ground for ants.

Eastern and Northern North America, from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains and north to Alaska.

Primary cavity nester providing homes for other species; major predator of ground-dwelling insects like ants and beetles.

Red-shafted Northern Flicker (which has salmon-red shafts) and many larger woodpeckers which lack the brilliant yellow shafts.

The Yellow-shafted Flicker is the state bird of Alabama, where it is known as the 'Yellowhammer.' Unlike most woodpeckers, they primarily feed on the ground eating ants.

Good condition; minor fraying at the tips suggests these may be naturally molted feathers rather than from a predation event.