Odd bird at the Drobs Ranch

drobs

Northern Flicker

HandLoad

They are Pretty Birds, but Secretive/Furtive - they are nervous, and don't like us looking at them. Pretty common up here in the Glorious NorthBest. They like Suet a lot. They will Drill any Steller's Jay that has the Temerity to perch near the Suet.

Mossbergboogie

Yeap sure is. Are they yellow shaft or orange? The farther west you go the inside of the wing feathers will be orange in color the more east they are yellow.

mrseatle

[8D] nice!

n/a

quote:Originally posted by HandLoad
They are Pretty Birds, but Secretive/Furtive - they are nervous, and don't like us looking at them. Pretty common up here in the Glorious NorthBest. They like Suet a lot. They will Drill any Steller's Jay that has the Temerity to perch near the Suet.


Yeah...I see them quite a bit.

fishkiller41

I remember them from my childhood in the NE.They had white under their winks and their lower back, Visible only when in flight..
Never could get a BB or a Super Pell into one..

pingjockey

Not only pretty but they will reak havoc with wasp nests too. Since wife is allergic to stings we
encourage them to stick around.

asphalt cowboy

When I was a kid we had a Newfoundland that was terrified of flickers.
A pair had nested in the top of a tree near the house and every time Dutch got within ten or fifteen yards of that tree one would swoop down and nail her on the head.
Got to where that pood dog would hear one screech she'd near wet herself.

HandLoad

Here in Puget Sound Area, All I have Observed are the Orange Variety.

Marc1301

We have the yellow ones around here.
Pretty cool to watch.

buddyb

Flickers.They are protected because the yellow feathers under their wings was used to tie trout flies (Yellowhammer)that caught fish when nothing else would.They are a type of wood pecker.

quickmajik

all kinds of their yellow and red cousins around here. Folks used to eat them around here, as well as the bigger woodpeckers.

Old-Colts

Now that's interesting! I viewed this post this morning and a few minutes ago my wife said there were 3-4 strange birds in the back yard along with a bunch of Robins. Sure enough, they were Northern Flickers! We do see them occasionally in the yard down near the woods, but rarely up in the grass near the house. I think they are the only member of the Woodpecker family to regularly feed on the ground.

kimi

We have a pair that visits with us each year, and they remind me of the ones I use to see down in Texas. They are beautiful birds.