Northern Flicker

by Sarah Kishler

Of all California’s woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is the one you’re most likely to find on the ground. Well-adapted to urban and suburban areas, you might see the flicker searching your yard for its favorite meal: ants. It is believed that the northern flicker has a greater taste for ants than any other bird.

There are five northern flicker subspecies. Our local variety is called the red-shafted flicker because of the bright red feathers on its underwings and beneath its tail. The Native Americans of California used flicker feathers in headdresses and on prayer sticks.

Both males and females have a brown body and a gray face, and males have a red “mustache” alongside their beaks.

Because they don’t have the “hammering power” of other woodpecker species, flickers seek out soft or dead trees in which to drill nesting holes. Flickers will drum on wood and other surfaces to declare their territory and attract mates.

In a very noisy and energetic courtship ritual, the male and female will face each other on a branch, sing to each other, and perform a sort of dance that consists of bobbing their heads and spreading their wings and tails.

Although the red-shafted flicker is still fairly common, its numbers are declining, possibly due to such factors as loss of habitat (e.g., the removal of dead trees), pesticide use, and competition for nest sites from the aggressive European starling. Since flickers provide homes not only for themselves but other cavity-nesting birds, conservationists feel it is important to monitor the population.