When folks invade
Your woodsy home.
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Colaptes auratus
People once called this bird a Yellow-hammer. Lots of folks still do, and it’s but one of the many names applied to this beautiful woodpecker. His brown-barred back, black crescent on the throat, spotted breast, white rump patch and bounding flight, his large size, his loud drumming, his posturing and his loud calls all point to this bird or, if you live in the west, the Red-shafted Flicker. The latter shows a reddish tint to the wings and tail where this bird shows yellow. Heads of males are marked differently, in that the western bird shows a red line extending down from the mouth, while the Yellow-shafted shows black lines.
A flicker prefers ants to any other food, and nature has equipped him with a long, sticky tongue which permits him to explore anthills or tunnels in trees where these insects might be lurking. When ants are not available, he turns to other insects, fruit or berries, one of his favorites the seeds of the poison ivy.
Flickers usually excavate their homes in the trunks of dead trees, the entrance about 3 inches across and extending downward to as much as 24 inches. Both birds apply themselves to this task, leaving small bits of wood in the bottom in lieu of other nesting material.
Sometimes he will surprise you
By feeding on your lawn.
But there you’re apt to find him