Northern Flicker
Colaptes auratus

Conservation status | Although still abundant and widespread, recent surveys indicate declines in population over much of the range since the 1960s. Introduced starlings compete with flickers for freshly excavated nesting sites, may drive the flickers away. |
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Family | Woodpeckers |
Habitat | Open forests, woodlots, groves, towns, semi-open country. With its wide range, from Alaska to Nicaragua, the flicker can be found in almost any habitat with trees. Tends to avoid dense unbroken forest, requiring some open ground for foraging. May be in very open country with few trees. |
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Feeding Behavior
Forages by hopping on ground, climbing tree trunks and limbs, occasionally flying out to catch insects in the air. Also will perch in outer branches to eat fruits and berries. Has been reported catching young bats leaving their roost in Wyoming.
Eggs
5-8, sometimes 3-12. White. Incubation is by both sexes (with male incubating at night and part of day), 11-16 days. Young: Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. Young leave nest about 4 weeks after hatching, are fed by parents at first, later following them to good foraging sites. 1 brood per year, or 2 in south.
Young
Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. Young leave nest about 4 weeks after hatching, are fed by parents at first, later following them to good foraging sites. 1 brood per year, or 2 in south.
Diet
Mostly ants and other insects. Probably eats ants more frequently than any other North American bird. Also feeds on beetles, termites, caterpillars, and other insects. Eats many fruits and berries, especially in fall and winter, and eats seeds and nuts at times.
Nesting
Males defend nesting territory with calling, drumming, and many aggressive displays, including swinging head back and forth, flicking wings open and spreading tail to show off bright underside. Courtship displays mostly similar. Nest site is cavity in tree or post, rarely in a burrow in the ground. Tree cavities usually in dead wood; pine, cottonwood, and willow are among favored trees. Cavity excavated by both sexes, typically 6-20' above ground, sometimes much higher (to 100' or more).
Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
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Migration
Northern Yellow-shafted Flickers from Alaska and Canada strongly migratory, most traveling east and then south. Big flights move down Atlantic Coast in fall, migrating by day. Red-shafted Flickers often migrate shorter distances, moving southward and from mountains into lowlands; some spread eastward on Great Plains in winter.

- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
See a fully interactive migration map for this species on the Bird Migration Explorer.
Learn moreSongs and Calls
A loud, repeated flicker or wicka-wicka-wicka; also a loud kleeer.Learn more about this sound collection.