The Northern Flicker a Mustachioed Gentleman

Many birds display some form of sexual dimorphism, with the males and females easily distinguished by their appearance for at least part of the year (males may molt their fancy plumage and appear similar to females during the winter, like our goldfinch). Cardinal males are bright red, while females are mostly brown with red highlights; male and female mallards have very different coloration, as do many finches. Robins show a more subtle difference, with males appearing more vibrantly or deeply colored compared to the somewhat washed-out females.

One of my favorite examples of sexual dimorphism is the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), one of our big, beautiful woodpeckers. Northern Flickers are soft brown in color, with a barred back, speckled breast and a red heart-shaped spot on the back of the head. In the east, you will see a bright yellow was on the feathers under their wings and tail (known as “yellow shafted;” in the west you will find a “red shafted” race instead, which are red below their wings and tail, and also lack the red mark on their nape).

The best part: you can tell males from females by their mustaches! Males in the east have black mustaches whereas females have no mustache (the western race has red mustaches instead of black).

Unlike other woodpeckers, you will generally find flickers feeding on the ground, chowing down ants and other insects (supplemented with berries and seeds during winter). I’ve often mistaken them for robins from a distance, until they take flight revealing a bright white patch on their rump. Their call was first described to me as sounding like a “jungle bird,” often noted as a repetitive “ki ki ki ki” with increasing intensity.

The Greenway has been swarming with flickers the past couple of weeks, and my silly tradition is to greet them appropriately as Mister or Missus as our paths cross. I never fail to feel a little thrill when I see a flicker, whether it is the first or the fifteenth of the day.

Originally published on Sycamore Greenway Friends