Species

Northern flicker

Colaptes auratus

A brown, spotted woodpecker that feeds on ants on the ground and flashes yellow under its wings in flight.

Photo Rhododendrites (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 28 to 31 cm long
Weight: About 110 to 165 g
Habitat: Open woods, fields, suburbs and parks
Diet: Mostly ants and beetles taken on the ground; also fruit and seeds
In Georgia: Common resident; more in winter
Voice: A loud "wick-wick-wick" and a sharp "kleer"
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Brown with black spots below; black crescent on the breast; bright white rump in flight; yellow under the wings and tail in eastern birds
Told apart from: Red-bellied woodpecker, which is grey with a barred back
Where to look: On lawns and bare ground, digging for ants

Behaviour

Flickers feed mostly on the ground, hammering and probing for ants with a long, barbed tongue. They are the state bird of Alabama, known there as the yellowhammer.

Why they matter

Flickers eat enormous numbers of ants. Their large cavities are used by many other animals, including owls, kestrels and bufflehead ducks in the north.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A cavity dug in a dead tree or post
Eggs — Usually five to eight
Incubation — About 11 to 13 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Flight — At about 24 to 27 days
Lifespan — Several years

Living around people

Lawns treated with insecticides remove their food; ant-rich ground feeds them.
Flickers drumming on metal gutters are signalling to rivals; a cover over the spot usually ends it.

Misconceptions

Woodpeckers only feed on trees. Flickers feed mostly on the ground.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering birds join residents	Present	Pairs forming	Nesting	Chicks	Young fledging	Present	Present	Migrants arriving	Migrants	Present	Present

Where it lives

Recorded in 82 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

Mexico

If you found one

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