Northern Flicker (yellow shafted) - Colaptes auratus

"Although it can climb up the trunks of trees and hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers to find food on the ground. Ants are its favorite food, and the flicker digs in the dirt to find them. It uses its long barbed tongue to lap up the ants."

Female Northern Flicker

Male Northern Flicker




I've waited a long time to get a decent shot of the Flicker. The female landed on a branch right in front of me. If I would have been an inch closer, I wouldn't have got the shot with the lens that I was using (Canon 400mm) The male landed on a pole right in front of my house :o)