Although the Northern Flicker climbs the trunks & limbs of trees and can hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, they prefer to find their food on the ground. Ants are its favorite, and the Northern Flicker digs in the dirt to find them and uses its long barbed tongue to lap them up. ScientificName - Colaptes auratus RANGE - North America & Central America LIFESPAN - Longest record - 9 years (wild)
DIET - Ants, other insects, fruits, grains and seeds. WEIGHT - 3.8 to 5.7 ounces WINGSPAN - 17 to 21 inches
LENGTH - 15 to 18 inches STATUS - Widespread with some decline. PROTECTION - ??
The Northern Flicker is a member of the woodpecker family, with two color forms. In Tennessee we see the yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, common in the eastern and nothern parts of North America. The red-shafted Northern Flicker being found in western North America. Although the Northern Flicker climbs the trunks & limbs of trees and can hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, they prefer to find their food on the ground. Ants are its favorite, and the Northern Flicker digs in the dirt to find them and uses its long barbed tongue to lap them up. They also eat other insects, fruits, grains and seeds. This is one of the few North American woodpeckers that is strongly migratory and many head south for the winter months. This grayish brown, medium sized woodpecker is barred on top and spotted below, with a black crescent on its chest and a white rump. The crown, face and throat are gray. Red crescent shape on the nape of the neck. Males have a black mustache marking. Flickers build their nest in dead trees or telephone poles and hollow out a space. Breeding occurs from February to July. The female lays a clutch of 3 to 12 glossy white eggs and both parents incubate them for 11 to 16 days. About 25 to 28 days later the young flickers take flight but stay close to the parents for several weeks.
