Eyes on the Sky

This male red-shafted Northern Flicker was one of the participants in what looked like a traveling party of birds in our front garden around lunchtime today. Robins, towhees, juncos, and sparrows of various persuasions were darting to and fro, high and low, occasionally making quick stops to refuel with some tasty weed seeds or an unsuspecting insect. 

Maybe the flicker was the designated “lookout” for the rowdy crowd , as he spent several minutes in the little dogwood, tilting his head this way and that to give a clear view of the sky. And then, whoosh! and all the birds, large and small, dashed off. What a thrilling few minutes that was!

Flickers are a type of woodpecker, nesting in holes in trees and drumming on objects as a form of communication and territory defense. They prefer to find food on the ground, with ants being their main food.

Flickers are relatively large birds, measuring 11-12.2 in (28-31 cm) long, with a wingspan of 16.5-20.1 in (42-51 cm), and weighing 3.9-5.6 oz (110-160 g). By comparison, the iconic UK robin is 5 in (13-14 cm) long, with a wingspan of 8-9 in (20-22 cm), and weighing 0.5-0.75 oz (16-22 g).

If you'd like to learn more about Northern Flickers, take a look here and here.  

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