Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

Return to Eastern Woodpeckers

Color Photograph: Copyright Corel Corp.

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 12 inches.

Male: Back brown with a ladderlike pattern of black lines and spots. Crown and nape of gray with a red band on the back of the head. A triangular black mustache-like patch from the base of the bill. Breast with a black "bib". Underside white with large, round spots.

Female: Similar to the male but without the mustache-like patch at the base of the bill.

Similar Species:  The large, round, black spots on the white belly and the brown back are distinctive.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Northern Flicker breeds throughout almost all of North America except for the far north and the Texas region. The breeding range is slightly larger than the resident range.

Overwintering Range:  This species is resident throughout most of North America, but also overwinters in Texas and Mexico.

Habitat: The Northern Flicker prefers open areas with trees such as suburban and urban areas, parks, and country roads and pastures.

Food: Insects and other arthropods.

Behavior: Unlike most other woodpeckers the North Flicker feeds on the ground searching for small insects. The voice consists of a loud, repetitious flicker or wicka-wicka-wicka. During courtship males hammer on dead tree limbs or any other suitably loud substrate such as your roof.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 to 6 white eggs in a tree cavity or telephone pole.

Note: The western populations of this species are different in appearance from their eastern cousins. The top of the head is tan, not gray and the red band is absent. The mustache-like patch at the base of the male bill is red, not black.