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Colaptes auratus
Although it can climb up the trunks of trees and hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers to find food on the ground. Ants are its main food, and the flicker digs in the dirt to find them. It uses its long barbed tongue to lap up the ants. (Cornell)
9 Comments
really? well, you learn something new every day... ;)
Actually Gilded Flicker is a full species. I checked my 1980 Peterson Field Guide and it lists yellow and red-shafted separately, but both with the name Common Flicker and the same scientific Colaptes auratus name without any subspecies name. All eastern birds are yellow-shafted and all western are red-shafted with intermediate birds in between.
very nice. You could add the common name to be more specific, yellow-shafted flicker. It's a subspecie of northern flicker. the other 2 subspecies of it are red-shafted flicker and gilded flicker
Thanks for the nice comments blaise and Mary. I was lucky to have such a cooperative bird, it didn't notice I was there.
That is the best picture of a flicker I've ever seen. Great!
beautiful spotting
Thanks Fyn, I was sitting on the ground photographing bluebirds and robins feeding on berries when this flicker came in and joined them.
Sinan thanks for the nice comment, and it's ok if you share the photo.
very very nice..
photo to your blog if you allow I share
Beautiful images of this often skittish bird.