Yesterday, I was driving on our South Field “road” (two ruts in a one-lane, mowed border) and I kept seeing Northern Flickers on the road, in the field, and in the trees. I was in the midst of a “guttering” (one of the names for a group of Flickers). I stopped and began “shooting” them, including this mature male. (His mate is identical, except that she has no black mustache.)
Here’s a female:
Leighton Archive Image
I counted nine or 10 Flickers, mostly juveniles, as they flew here and there chastising me with their “guttering” call, but never going far and never making their piercing maniacal cackle. Then, it dawned on me: this might have been just one family in its territory and on the verge of migrating. Here are images of several of the juveniles, the males already sporting mustaches:
We host the “Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker,” the eastern version with primary feathers that emerge from yellow shafts and patches under its wings; the underside of its tail also is yellow. In the west, the bird is called the “Red-Shafted Northern Flicker” for the same (but red) reasons. It’s apparently “Northern” because it’s in North America.
Unlike other woodpeckers, Flickers spend a lot of time using their custom-curved beaks to probe the earth for beetles and ants. Here’s a mature female (maybe Mom) climbing over a rock yesterday to dig in the soil around the rock:
Our bird is called a “Yellowhammer” in many regions. Some of you history buffs may remember that Confederate Civil War soldiers from Alabama were known as “Yellowhammers” because the Northern Flicker is Alabama’s state bird. (Brooklin, Maine)