#2860 "Male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker"

#2860 "Male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker"
16x20 inches oils on canvas started May 6th, 2024

We call these perky little woodpeckers "the aerator". They spend their time poking into the soil looking for insects and in doing so, loosen up the soil. They are entertaining to have around the property. This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. The flicker was in the shadow of the dead tree stump working on a hole. The composition is unusual but very interesting.  

Flickers are the only woodpeckers that frequently feed on the ground. Their primary food is insects although they eat fruits, berries, seeds, and nuts. Ants alone can make up 45% of their diet. Northern flickers often break into underground ant colonies to get at the nutritious larvae there, hammering at the soil the way other woodpeckers drill into wood. They will even break up cow dung to eat the insects living within. Their tongues can dart out 2 inches beyond the end of the bill to catch prey. The northern flicker is a natural predator of the European corn borer, an invasive species of moth that costs the U.S. agriculture industry more than $1 billion annually in crop losses. 

The northern flicker or common flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and even the Cayman Islands It is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. It typically arrives back at Singleton around April 12th. We keep track...

Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls. It is the state bird of Alabama. This bird's call is a sustained laugh, ki ki ki ki, quite different from that of the pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). 

Like most woodpeckers, northern flickers drum on objects as a form of communication and territory defence. In such cases, the purpose is to make as loud a noise as possible, so woodpeckers sometimes drum on metal objects.

There are two easily distinguished races of Northern Flickers in North America: the red-shafted form of the West and the yellow-shafted form of the East. The key difference is the colour of the flight-feather shafts, which are either a lemon yellow or a rosy red. 

The Yellow-shafted Flicker have tan faces, gray crowns, and a solid red crescent on the nape. Males also sport a black mustache stripe as painted above. Red-shafted forms have a gray face, brown crown, and no nape crescent, with males showing a red mustache stripe. Hybrids look intermediate and are common at the edges of these two groups' ranges. 

As well as eating ants, northern flickers exhibit a behaviour known as anting, in which they use the formic acid from the ants to assist in preening, as it is useful in keeping them free of parasites.

The undulating flight of the flicker is typical of woodpeckers. The repeated cycle of a quick succession of flaps followed by a pause creates an effect comparable to a roller coaster.  When they fly you’ll see a flash of colour in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, red if you’re in the West – and a bright white flash on the rump.

The oldest known yellow-shafted form of the Northern Flicker was a male and was at least 9 years, 2 months old when he was found in Florida. The oldest red-shafted form of Northern Flicker lived to be at least 8 years, 9 months old.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick