{"id":69273,"date":"2020-05-01T06:22:45","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T12:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=69273"},"modified":"2025-05-22T11:46:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T16:46:29","slug":"nesting-northern-flickers-provide-nests-for-other-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/01\/nesting-northern-flickers-provide-nests-for-other-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Nesting Northern Flickers Provide Nests For Other Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northern Flickers<\/h2>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Flicker male below his nest \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday when I wrote about nesting Mountain Bluebirds<\/span><\/a> I mentioned that I had spotted a Northern Flicker at the nesting cavity the bluebirds were using to nest in. The nesting cavity was almost certainly created by a flicker. It might have been excavated last year or sometime before that because there weren’t any signs that it was a new excavation. Although Northern Flickers do use old nest cavities usually they construct new nests during the breeding season and their old nesting cavities are used by secondary cavity nesters.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Northern Flicker perched outside of his nest \u2013 Nikon D810, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Northern Flicker photos in this post were taken in the Targhee National Forest<\/span><\/a> of Clark County, Idaho in May of 2015. These images show the flicker in the process of enlarging and excavating a nesting cavity that a mated pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers<\/span><\/a> had excavated the previous year. I am not sure how often flickers enlarge the nesting cavities of other primary cavity nesting birds so I found this nest excavation quite interesting.<\/p>\n

The bills of Northern Flickers are well suited for pounding through the bark and the interior wood of trees.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Flicker male poking his head out of the nesting cavity \u2013 Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 800, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Northern Flicker chicks are well protected and safe inside the nesting cavities and the chicks of secondary cavity nesters usually are as well. I say “usually” because snakes, raccoons and squirrels can climb trees and eat the eggs or the chicks or human beings can cut down the tree<\/span><\/a>, destroy the nests and kill the chicks. That happens and I know that from firsthand experience.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Northern Flicker resting in a conifer \u2013 Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/320, ISO 800, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It can be challenging to locate nesting cavities but with keen eyes, by moving slowly through wooded areas on foot or by vehicle, having a crap load of patience, and listening for the calls of woodpeckers and secondary cavity nesting birds it is possible to find their nesting trees. By going slow and stopping in promising areas in forests or forested areas it makes it more likely and easier to spot birds that are typically found in the trees and forests.<\/p>\n

Go too fast and these birds and their nesting cavities are easily missed.<\/p>\n

Some of the secondary cavity nesting birds that use old Northern Flicker nests are shown below. Click the arrows on the sides to scroll through the photos. You can also click the individual images to view my photo galleries of that species.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Secondary Cavity Nesters<\/h2>\n<\/div>
\"Mountain<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black-capped<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"House<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Mountain<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Tree<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Red-breasted<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"American<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/i><\/div>
<\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Note: Red-breasted Nuthatches are both primary and secondary cavity nesters.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are other secondary cavity nesting birds that use old Northern Flicker and other woodpecker and sapsucker nesting cavities. I don’t have high quality images of all of them unfortunately but I hope to change that soon.<\/p>\n

By excavating their own nests Northern Flickers provide nests for other woodland birds that can’t excavate nesting cavities on their own and those nests can be used over and over again. Nature is brilliant.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Northern Flicker photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By excavating their own nests Northern Flickers provide nests for other woodland birds that can’t excavate nesting cavities on their own and those nests can be used over and over again. Nature is brilliant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2578,2244,2255,2261],"tags":[4004,1919,4073,2257,5237,3705,4931,5370,4062,4069,4075,3976,2580,3704,9815,9814,4156,4894,9442,4777,2146],"class_list":["post-69273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-clark-county","category-idaho","category-northern-flicker","category-targhee-national-forest","tag-adult","tag-aspen","tag-breeding-season","tag-colaptes-auratus","tag-conifer","tag-flicker","tag-flickers","tag-forest","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-nest","tag-nesting","tag-nesting-cavity","tag-northern-flicker","tag-primary-cavity-nesters","tag-rest","tag-resting","tag-secondary-cavity-nesters","tag-woodland-birds","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nesting-forest-mia-mcpherson-8171.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-i1j","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":102141,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/04\/male-northern-flicker-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":69273,"position":0},"title":"Male Northern Flicker Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing a few male Northern Flicker images that I took seven years ago at the edge of a mountain forest in the Targhee National Forest in Idaho.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Flicker peeking out of his nesting cavity, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8575.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8575.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-mia-mcpherson-montana-5876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-mia-mcpherson-montana-5876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-mia-mcpherson-montana-5876.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-mia-mcpherson-montana-5876.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39172,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/05\/northern-flicker-nesting-cavity\/","url_meta":{"origin":69273,"position":3},"title":"Northern Flicker Nesting Cavity","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed my favorite nesting tree in the Targhee National Forest and this Northern Flicker nesting cavity.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Flicker male at nest, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nest-mia-mcpherson-8290.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nest-mia-mcpherson-8290.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nest-mia-mcpherson-8290.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Right now Red-breasted Nuthatches should be looking for or excavating nesting cavities here in northern Utah which means I should take a trip up to the back roads in the mountains soon and see if I can locate some closer to home than Idaho or Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Red-breasted Nuthatch checking out a nesting cavity, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-nuthatch-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-nuthatch-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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