Cooperative Living May 2015 - 27

COMMON FLICKER
I
t's the most widely distributed
woodpecker in North America, and
it's the only brownish woodpecker
of eight species found in the midAtlantic
region.
One of its more common local
names is " yellow hammer, " and it was
once hunted as a game bird and
appeared regularly in markets in the
south.
The common flicker measures 11
to 14 inches in length, and its many
names reveal its wide distribution and
how it was viewed as a game bird in
the past, indicated by the names wood
pigeon and partridge woodpecker.
Flickers used to be separated into
yellow-shafted of the eastern United
States, red-shafted of the west, and
gilded of the desert regions; but now,
all are considered " common " flickers.
The red-shafted has red under wing
and tail, while the yellow-shafted is
yellow.
It's the yellow-shafted variety that
is found in our region. The top of its
head is grayish from the forehead to
the nape of its neck, with a bright
crescent-shaped red patch on the back
of its head. It sports a longish
teardrop-shaped mark or " moustache "
on the sides of its throat, and black
chest crescent-shaped patch and large
black spots on its breast. In flight it
shows a white rump, its most
discernible field mark, and goldenyellow
under wings and tail. The
female is similar but it does not have
the tear-shaped mark on its face except
in its juvenile stage.
Other nicknames for the common
flicker stem from its calls and habits,
including wick-up, high-holer, yanker
bird, hairy wicket, yellow-shafted
flicker, and walk-up. Its calls are
described as a rapid " wicker-wickerwicker-wicker "
uttered as many as a
dozen times. Sometimes it will call out
a loud " keeeow " or " peee-ahr " or a
quiet gurgling " chur-r-r-r. " The flicker
flies with a bounding flight style,
May 2015/www.co-opliving.com
suddenly swooping upward to land on a
tree trunk. This is a bird that loves to
take dust baths to rid itself of parasites.
Flickers that nest up north return to
their breeding grounds in late March,
while in the mid-Atlantic they will
show up in late February, although
many flickers winter over. At this time
you may find them in thicker woods
and even in swamps where there is
more food and protection. This is
It was a pair of
flickers that excavated
nearly 200
holes in the fuel-tank
insulation of the
space shuttle back in
June 1995, resulting
in a launch delay that
cost over $1 million.
another of those woodpeckers that likes
to drum on anything that resonates, like
a hollow branch, a rain gutter, or a tin
roof during courtship to attract a mate
or to establish territorial boundaries.
During courtship they go through a lot
of chasing, nodding, bowing or
swaying, with males getting into some
vigorous fighting at times. Otherwise
the chasing seems to be somewhat halfhearted,
as if none of the birds wants to
catch up to the others.
Flickers nest mainly in tree cavities,
seven to 90 feet up, but also in
telephone poles, rotted-out fence
posts, building siding, and manmade
nesting boxes. Wood chips and down
make up most of the nest material;
pine straw is used in pine woods.
They have also been known to carve
out nest holes in log homes, or in
other log structures. It was a pair of
flickers that excavated nearly 200
holes in the fuel-tank insulation of
the space shuttle back in June 1995,
resulting in a launch delay that cost
over $1 million. They apparently got
just so far until they hit hard metal,
but kept trying new spots.
Flickers are very prolific egglayers.
A female will continue to lay
eggs even if they are removed. In one
experiment eggs were removed from
a nest each day and the female laid
70 eggs in just over 70 days. A
normal clutch is six to eight white
eggs that hatch in 11-12 days. Both
parents assist in feeding. Very young
birds are fed regurgitated food at
first, then fruits and insects until
they leave the nest after three weeks.
Ants are one of the flicker's prime
food sources and it commonly goes
to the ground with awkward, short
hops to dig out and lap-up ants. It
has large salivary glands on each side
of its mouth, which secrete a sticky
mucous that coats its tongue.
Inserting its large bill, the flicker's
tongue can extend as much as 2½
inches into an ant burrow and the
ants stick to it. The flicker will also
probe stumps, logs, and leaf mulch. It
eats other insects and insect larvae, as
well as a wide variety of wild fruits
and berries, and even peanuts leftover
after harvest.
Look for them in relatively open
country, woodlots, orchards, oak
groves with sparse understory, and
they are common in parks and
residential areas. In the south they
may choose pine barrens, palmettos,
burned-over areas, and the wooded
edges of swamps. n
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Cooperative Living May 2015

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