Northern Flicker

The northern flicker, Colaptes auratus, is a beautiful bird. I am very fond of this species that frequents Laramie and the nearby forested areas all year long.  According to allaboutbirds.org, flickers are strongly migratory, so I guess this means that the flickers I see now will head up to Canada for the summer, while those I'll see during the summer are now enjoying life south of here.

The flicker of the western U.S. is called 'red-shafted' because of the reddish coloring on the underside of the wings. Eastern birds are 'yellow-shafted', but these different colored birds can breed and form hybrids in overlapping territories, so they are not different species.

While on hikes, I have often startled hidden flickers, earning only a glimpse of reddish-brown wings and a white rump as the bird flees in a distinctive flight with a rushing sound. "Flickers do fly like most woodpeckers do, rising and falling smoothly as they intersperse periods of flapping with gliding," notes the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Although flickers are woodpeckers, they often feed on the ground, eating ants and beetles.  That's not to say they're not at home in the trees, though.  They are perfectly content to spend an afternoon drumming on a tree like any other woodpecker, either to make a nest hole or to loudly proclaim their territory. 

Like pileated woodpeckers (which are not found in Wyoming), flickers are capable of numerous very loud calls that almost sound like they were made by laughing monkeys (more flying monkeys!). According to Wikipedia, there are many nicknames for flickers, including "yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names are attempts at imitating some of its calls." 

Reading transcriptions of bird calls can be an amusing pasttime.  From the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:  "Flickers can also be identified by their loud call that sounds like wake-up, wake-up, wake-up; also a piercing, sharply descending peeahr."  Or, from the Animal Diversity Web:  "Their song is a loud 'wick wick wick wick wick,' while individual notes sound like a loud 'klee-yer' and a squeaky 'flick-a flick-a flick-a' (Peterson 1967)."   On the other hand, Birdzilla.com suggests that the calls are more like "a sharp 'keek!' and a prolonged 'week-week-week' or 'kik-kik-kik'."

Their calls are very distinctive, however you want to spell them.  Their coloring is also unique and absolutely beautiful.  This species and the downy woodpecker often take turns drumming around my house, and I am thrilled to have these special neighbors.