Wild Guide: Northern Flicker

Wild Guide: Northern Flicker

Colaptes auratus

Adult northern flickers are brown with small black bars, and whitish underneath with black spots. Their head is tan with a gray crown. Males have a black moustachial mark. A black crescent separates the spotted breast from the clear tan throat. Because northern flickers need dead wood — standing or on the ground — for nesting and foraging areas, they are commonly seen in woodlands, parks, farmland, and suburbs. Their call is a sharp descending whistle. The courtship vocalization, wicka-wicka-wicka-wicka, is very similar to that of the pileated woodpecker, but it lacks the resonance and volume.

Flickers excavate nest cavities in dead trees or branches of live trees. Other species, such as squirrels, eastern screech-owls, and American kestrels, depend on these old nest cavities for their own nests.