What Are Flickers?

They are less of a woodpecker and more of a “dirt”-pecker

Flickers are unusual members of the Woodpecker family. Instead of the black-and-white plumage and tree-clinging habits typical of most woodpeckers, Flickers have brown feathers dappled with black and have a tendency to hug the ground. Woodpeckers stick to trees where they may feast on insects, sap or fruit. Flickers love to eat ants and probe the ground with their long tongues for both ants and other tasty insects. Below is a photo of a male Gilded Flicker on the ground as he paused during his busy search for food.

Here the Gilded Flicker was hard at work, digging up the earth in search of ants, its head buried in the ground. You can see the brown back this woodpecker has. The black bib and spotted underside is also a characteristic of Gilded Flickers. The males have a red mustache. In the United States, Gilded Flickers are birds found mostly in the Sonoran Desert.

Here is the AllAboutBirds range map for the Gilded Flicker. The purple area tells us that the Gilded Flicker is a permanent, year-round resident of the Sonoran Desert Region and is not seen elsewhere in the United States.

About one week later after I saw that Gilded Flicker, I saw a Northern Flicker. The Northern Flicker looks similar to the Gilded Flicker but with a smaller tan cap and gray on the back of its head. The Northern Flicker also seems to have more black on its back than the Gilded does. Although not visible in my photos, the Northern Flicker has red or orange-red linings under its wings and similarly colored feather shafts on those feathers. Gilded Flickers’ wing linings and feather shafts are more yellow (i.e., gilded). Northern Flickers in the west are also called Red-shafted Flickers. Male Northern Flickers also have red mustaches just as male Gilded Flickers do.

The Northern Flicker is North America’s most wide ranging woodpecker. The range map on AllAboutBirds tells us a very different story from the range map of the Gilded Flicker.

Both species of Flickers have a conspicuous white rump patch. Commonly visible during flight, this perched Northern Flicker is showing us that white rump patch which sometimes can be seen while the bird is perched. Birdnote tells us a bit more about Northern Flickers.

You can read more about the Northern Flickers at Audubon.

You can read more about Gilded Flickers at Tucson Bird Alliance.