Mud-digging Northern Flickers: Wascana Park, Regina

I've always thought of Northern Flickers as tree birds not ground birds, bark drillers not dirt diggers. But when I watched several Flickers in Regina's Wascana Park on Friday, these large brown woodpeckers were spending far more time in the mud than in the trees. (And even those on the trees had muddy beaks to show that they, too, had been digging. Or they'd just finished scraping their beaks against the bark, to get them clean.) 

Northern Flicker, taking a break from dirt drilling.  © SB 

Northern Flicker resting on a tree, with muddy beak.
The line of yellow wing feathers is also visible.  © SB

Blurred, but shows the colour of these
Northern Flickers' feather shafts. © SB

What is this? A Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted); or Pic flamboyant.  
Location: Wascana Park, Regina, Saskatchewan
Photo date: September 9, 2016.

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Northern Flicker: Large Backyard Woodpecker in Regina, SK

A Northern Flicker landed on one of our bird feeders in Regina, Saskatchewan, this morning. Too big to balance on the tiny ledge, it then flew to the vines atop our backyard trellis.

This large woodpecker looks like the Yellow Shafted variety of Northern Flickers from its markings, including its bright red cap and the flash of yellow along its wings and on their undersides. This bird is also male, from the black moustache, or malar, beside its beak and beneath its eye.

Northern Flicker in my backyard.  © SB

And yes, it's large: Northern Flickers are more than 12 inches long, with wingspans of 20 inches, says The Sibley Guide to Birds. They are also beautiful and very distinctive in flight!


What is this? A Northern Flicker

Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo date: October 13, 2013

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Yellow Shafted Flicker near Lumsden, Saskatchewan

The Northern Flicker sat on a post in the Qu'Appelle Valley along Seven Bridges Road in Saskatchewan, unflinchingly watching me as I pulled over the shoulder, slowly wound down the window and took its picture.

When another car approached, this Flicker (a fairly large woodpecker) turned and rose in flight with a yellow flash of its wings, only a hint of which is shown here along the fine yellow edges of this bird's wing and tail.

Her wings and tail, I should say. The distinguishing feature between males and females in these Flickers (Yellow Shafted, from my books) is the black moustache males sport, which is absent here.

Northern Flicker, wind ruffling the feathers
of her spotted breast.    © SB

What is this? A Northern Flicker (Yellow Shafted Flicker) 

Location: Along Seven Bridges Road, north of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Photo date: August 10, 2012.  

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