RHH's photos with the keyword: flicker

We have a number of Northern Flickers that visit our suet feeders regularly. This is the male as evidenced by his red "mustaches."

This is a male Northern Flicker on our back porch. They come to our suet feeders regularly.

This Northern Flicker is on our back porch. He came for the suet but is keeping an eye on me to see if I'm a threat.

Photographed on our back deck, this male Northern Flicker is a regular visitor to our suet feeders. That this is the male is evident from his red mustaches and he is the red-shafted variety of this species, the only variety in our area.

This is the male Northern Flicker and the Red-shafted variety which is found in the west. The male has the bright red mustache, which the female lacks and the difference can be seen in comparing this post with yesterday's. Once known as the Red-shafted Flicker and considered a different species from the Yellow-shafted, the name referred to the shafts of the wing and tail feathers, which are red and which can be seen in the second inset.

This is the male Northern Flicker at one of our suet feeders. They come regularly but are very shy and fly away as soon as they notice any movement of hear any noise in the house. This is one is watching to make sure everything is safe.

The bird in this post, now known as the Northern Flicker, used to be called the Red-shafted Flicker and was considered a separate species from the Yellow-shafted Flicker, this found in the west and the Yellow-shafted in the east. Those names refer to the shafts of the wing and tail feathers which are partially visible in this photo. The two are no longer considered different species and do interbreed where their ranges overlap. This is the red-shafted male, evident from his bright red mustache.

The three photos here are of the female Northern Flicker, more often a visitor at our suet feeders than the male, though both have been coming (I'll post photos of the male tomorrow). They are very shy and fly away as soon as there is any noise in the house or movement at the windows. They are very common in our area, however, and I do not even know if it is always the same pair that shows up at our feeders - I counted fifteen of them a few days ago when I was out for a walk. We see only the Red-shafted variety, once known as the Red-shafted Flicker, though now lumped with the others as the Northern Flicker. The reference is to the shafts of the wing and tail feathers which are red (there is a Yellow-shafted variety as well, found in eastern USA) and which are just visible on the underside of the tail in this photo and in one of the insets. Last, for those who don't know, Flickers are in the woodpecker family.

This is the Northern Flicker in our little bird bath on our porch. The male has a bright red "mustache" and is even more shy than the female. They often perch in a nearby tree waiting to see if the coast is clear and no one around.

Here is the female Northern Flicker, the red-shafted variety. The red "shafts" of the tail feathers are visible in the photo, but the shafts of the tail feathers are also red. The male is somewhat more colorful with a bright red "mustache" but both come to our suet feeders.

Also known as the Northern Flicker, this bird is one of our native woodpeckers. We often hear them hammering on the flashing and gutters of our roof, but this is the first good picture I've gotten of one of them. The photo was taken in Stanley Park, Vancouver. The bird's scientific name is Colaptes auratus cafer.