Northern Flickers

[Debbie Stahre]

Flickers are woodpeckers that use their long curved tongues to harvest their main food source of beetles and ants out of the ground. The eastern part of the US usually sees yellow-shafted flickers, the western part sees red-shafted. Males have black mustaches, females don't.

Female in nest cavity.

Male on tree stump in a swamp.

Female on the ground.

Female showing her long tongue.

This male just flew in abruptly disturbing a bunch of robbins that were in the bush eating seeds.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Great set Debbie. I once had a pair nesting in our yard in Spokane until the starlings tore up the nest and tossed the eggs on the ground.

 

[Debbie Stahre]

Great set Debbie. I once had a pair nesting in our yard in Spokane until the starlings tore up the nest and tossed the eggs on the ground.

Thanks Ben. It must have been very disappointing not to have chicks to shoot in your yard.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Excellent series, Debbie. I didn't realize that Flickers had such long tongues. They could feed from hummingbird feeders.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice set of captures. I am surprised to see the tongue. We have some of these that visit our suet feeders in the summer months. I think the suet cakes have insects as part of the ingredients.

 

[Debbie Stahre]

Excellent series, Debbie. I didn't realize that Flickers had such long tongues. They could feed from hummingbird feeders.

That's the only time I've seen one out that far. They kind of have a red heart on the back of their head too.

 

[Debbie Stahre]

Nice set of captures. I am surprised to see the tongue. We have some of these that visit our suet feeders in the summer months. I think the suet cakes have insects as part of the ingredients.

That would be a good suet to have on hand for the nesting birds.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Debbie, how interesting! I never knew that a woodpecker would eat bugs from the ground too. And wow, what a super long tongue! It's amazing they can keep it inside their beaks at all.

 

[Debbie Stahre]

Hey Debbie, how interesting! I never knew that a woodpecker would eat bugs from the ground too. And wow, what a super long tongue! It's amazing they can keep it inside their beaks at all.

The length of it makes it look impossible.

 

[Alisa]

2 and 4 are my favorite!!