The Northern Red-shafted Flicker - a helping bird.

December 28, 2006 on 2:13 pm | In Daily Local Birder |

Greetings!

I have to say, over the past year, my appreciation for local woodpeckers has really increased. They are fascinating birds to observe, and the Red-Shafted Flicker, Colaptes auratus certainly deserves notice and, I would add, honor for his important role in the world of birds. If you are a new birdwatcher, you may be surprised by what you see in my sketch. To be sure, the Northern Red-shafted flicker looks like a breed apart compared to other local woodpeckers such as the Pileated Woodpecker, the Downy Woodpecker or the Red-breasted Sapsucker.

You’d be right to think that black-and-white are the colors of choice for most woodpeckers. However, if you take a gander at other woodpecker-type birds such as the Gila Woodpecker, or the Red-bellied Woodpecker, which live in the south and east of the U.S., you will begin to discern a much stronger family resemblance. Additionally, you’ll want to know that three types of flickers inhabit North America: the Gilded Flicker of the southwest, and the 2 types of Northern Flickers - red-shafted and yellow-shafted.

Note the beautiful markings of our local Northern Red-shafted Flicker. The distinctive, velvety black bib and spots on the under side, and the burnished bronze wing feathers with their black striping. The heads of both males and females are a soft grey with a wash of bronze toward the beak, but only the male features the vermillion cheek streak. The infinite wonder and creativity of creation is so evident in this wild bird, and his markings call to my mind the artworks of the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts eras. And yet, the best surprise is only visible when the Northern Flicker takes flight and the stunning salmon underwings and tail are displayed. They seem to blaze out with warmth on sunless days and to gleam on sunny ones. What a pleasure to see!

Further field notes on the Northern Red-shafted Flicker
Northern Flickers love my corner of Sonoma County. I hear their burbling chuckles every day, and also, their piercing kwee-ahr call that is an excellent mimic of a hawk. They are quite talkative birds, and I like to think of them as winged philosophers, laughing at their own absorbing thoughts and ideas. Yet, despite their gregariousness and sturdy size (some 12 1/2″), flickers can be surprisingly hard to spot when perched amidst the silver and buff branches of winter trees. Many times, I have stood at the foot of a walnut tree, trying in vain to follow the sound of flicker calls to its source. Patience may be needed, though, if a flicker spots you coming too close to his roost, he is likely to take off and you will only catch a glimpse of his flaming wings in retreat.

As I’ve said, flickers deserve our honor for the service they provide to many other birds with their powerful habits of excavation. The holes they drill are large enough to accomodate nearly any hole-nesting bird in Sonoma County, and I feel a special respect for creatures who, like the beaver, create environments that benefit others.

Flickers lay 5-10 white eggs in their nesting holes. Insects are the preferred food of the flicker, and berries are eaten in winter. Unlike most other woodpeckers, flickers forage mainly on the ground for their food, so the observant birder will often have the luck of seeing one in plain view on a lawn or in a clearing beneath trees.

Where can you see flickers in Sonoma County, California?
Happily, the Northern Red-shafted flicker is a common enough bird here, and there is an extemely vibrant population during winter at Jack London State Park. As my accompanying map shows, a walk along the path by the silos is almost sure to enable you to add this bird to your lifelist, if you’ve yet to do so. On our last promenade around this area of this fabulous park, I would estimate that we saw upwards of 30 flickers. Don’t forget to bring along your birdwatching binoculars. Jack London State Park is literally bursting with wild birds - some are winter-only species, and some, like the Northern Red-shafted Flicker, are year-round neighbors for Sonoma County birders.