While their drumming may most often be a source of loud noise in the spring, it can cause damage when the drumming occurs on siding, eaves, and roofs. When a drumming object is successful for a male flicker he will return to it year after year. Home owners can often observe a flicker drumming on metal gutters or drain pipes. Northern flicker ordinarily won’t create holes when drumming! When drumming they prefer a loud hollow object that will project their call the most distance. Drumming is caused by the flicker hitting its beak repeatedly against a tree, log, or any other object that will amplify the sound. Drumming is used as a means of attracting a mate, communication, and defending their territory. The young leave the cavity about 4 weeks after hatching.ĭrumming and drilling holes are the two most common problems people will encounter with the northern flicker. Once the female lays 5-8 eggs, the pair will take turns incubating the eggs for about 15 days. Both the male and the female help to excavate the nest. They also nest in cavities in trees 5-20 feet off the ground. Like other woodpeckers, flickers will climb trees and drum on objects. In the fall, flickers will also eat nuts, berries and other fruit. Flickers have a long barbed tongue that it uses to capture and eat insects out of the holes that it pecks in wood. The northern flicker spends most of its time on the ground where it uses it’s down curved bill to root out ants, its predominant food source, and other insects. Flickers are known to migrate from the northern part of their range to the southern part for winter each year. Flickers can be found in any habitat that has a few trees that can be used for cavities, particularly in the suburban woodlands, but prefers open, wooded areas. The northern flicker is found year-round throughout the United States, parts of Canada and Mexico. The eastern version of the northern flicker has a brown face, red markings on the back of its head, yellow coloration under the wings, and the males have a black mustache. In flight, one can see red coloration under the wings, and a white patch on their rump. In the west the northern flicker has a grey face, and the males have a red “mustache”. Upon closer inspection one will notice it has a black breast band and a white rump. Unlike many other common woodpeckers it has a black and tan speckled back, with a black and white spotted belly that gives it an overall brownish appearance. The northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a large woodpecker (11-12 inches).
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