Northern Flicker Images, Facts and Information:
Colaptes auratus
- Northern Flickers are large, brownish woodpeckers with black scalloped plumage, large, slightly curved bills and small rounded heads. In the East the underside of the wings are yellow and in the West they are reddish orange. Hybrid species do occur where the range of the two subspecies overlap. Western males have a red malar stripe and eastern males have black malar stripes.
- Northern Flickers are migratory, some are year round residents though northern populations will migrate south during the winter.
- Northern Flickers prefer forest edges, open woodlands, fields with scattered trees, city parks, yards and woods near streams.
- Northern Flickers eat ants, beetles, flies, butterflies, moths and during winter they will eat fruits and seeds.
- Norther Flickers nest in cavities. They lay 3 to 12 eggs which hatch in 11 to 16 days. Both sexes incubate and they are monogamous.
- A group of flickers can be called a “guttering” or “menorah” of flickers.
- Northern Flickers can live up to 9 years.
I hope you enjoy viewing my Northern Flicker photos.
Urban female Northern Flicker
Title: Urban female Northern Flicker
Location: Salt Lake County, Utah
Date: 4/6/2023
Urban Northern Flicker female
Title: Urban Northern Flicker female
Location: Salt Lake County, Utah
Date: 4/6/2023
Female Northern Flicker foraging in hawthorns
Title: Female Northern Flicker foraging in hawthorns
Location: Wasatch Mountains, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 9/27/2020
Immature Northern Flicker perched on a dead branch
Title: Immature Northern Flicker perched on a dead branch
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 8/21/2019
High Key Northern Flicker
Title: High Key Northern Flicker
Location: Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah
Date: 11/30/2015
Northern Flicker on a fence post in the Centennial Valley
Title: Northern Flicker on a fence post in the Centennial Valley
Location: Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana
Date: 9/8/2015
Northern Flicker male at the nesting cavity
Title: Northern Flicker male at the nesting cavity
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Close up of a male Northern Flicker and aspen nesting tree
Title: Close up of a male Northern Flicker and aspen nesting tree
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Northern Flicker exiting the nest cavity
Title: Northern Flicker exiting the nest cavity
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Northern Flicker sending wood chips flying
Title: Northern Flicker sending wood chips flying
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Male Northern Flicker resting in a conifer
Title: Male Northern Flicker resting in a conifer
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Northern Flicker male poking his head out of the nesting cavity
Title: Northern Flicker male poking his head out of the nesting cavity
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Male Northern Flicker perched outside of his nest
Title: Male Northern Flicker perched outside of his nest
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Northern Flicker male below his nest
Title: Northern Flicker male below his nest
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Northern Flicker male at nest
Title: Northern Flicker male at nest
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Male Northern Flicker on an aspen
Title: Male Northern Flicker on an aspen
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Male Northern Flicker perched on a conifer
Title: Male Northern Flicker perched on a conifer
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Male Northern Flicker peeking out of his nesting cavity
Title: Male Northern Flicker peeking out of his nesting cavity
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Northern Flicker male close up at an aspen nesting tree
Title: Northern Flicker male close up at an aspen nesting tree
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015
Male Northern Flicker in a forest
Title: Male Northern Flicker in a forest
Location: Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho
Date: 5/4/2015