I have had other visitors at my duck box houses besides ducks, like a bee, mouse, squirrel, chickadee, nuthatch, bluebird and recently a northern flicker. I have had some dead trees blown down in the last storm, so I wonder if the flicker’s prior nesting site has fallen down and is looking for a new home. But the opening on the duck box is much bigger than the size they create in trees.
Northern Flicker
The Northern Flickers have ventured north again and they prefers to find their food on the ground, especially ants and they use their long barbed tongue to eat them.
Northern Flickers Return
Arbor Day is a special day that is set aside to raise awareness of trees and I was real aware of all the limbs I was picking up off my lawn. And the birds were aware of the trees as the warmer weather had a lot of courting occurring in the tree branches. There was flashes of blue as courtship was happening among some bluebirds. And the northern flickers were rather vocal as they chased each other among the branches.
A Northern Flicker
A northern flicker was on the side of the road this evening, and while they nest in trees, they spend a lot of time on the ground digging for ants and beetles with their slightly curved bill. The northern flickers in the eastern part of the United States will have yellow on the underside of the wings, whereas red is seen in the western part.
Flicker Hunting Bugs
Many birds are busy making nests or even sitting on eggs already in birdhouses I have made so I didn’t appreciate the Northern Flicker trying to drill through the top of one the birdhouses. It wasn’t my fault the wind blew down the dead tree a week ago where it nested in last year so he didn’t need to try to destroy another nesting site.
The Northern Flicker spends a lot of time on the ground looking for insects and I see plenty of ants around, one of its favorite foods, for it is eat and capture with its tongue which can extend two inches beyond the end of its bill.
Northern Flicker Looking for Insects
It has been hard keeping the bird feeders filled now that the baby orioles and grosbeaks have been coming to eat (besides the mother squirrel too). And it appears the baby Northern Flickers have left the nest as I saw a group of them on the lawn looking for their meal. But since they feed on insects, I don’t have to put more seed out since there are plenty of bugs this year.
Peeking Northern Flicker
When I see holes in dead trees, I always wonder if they are a house for some critter. This hole did have a resident who I scared out when out working but came back quickly so I don’t know if there are eggs in the nest or babies or just in the building phase.
Northern Flickers generally nest in holes in trees and takes about 1 to 2 weeks to build the nest by both male and female and will lay between 6 to 8 eggs which are high glossy, white eggs. I probably won’t be able to get a picture of the eggs since the hole is high up on the tree and the other half of the tree has blown down so probably not safe to lean a ladder on it.
There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker, many based on the sounds the woodpecker makes like heigh-ho.
Watchful Northern Flicker
With the sun out yesterday and no new snow, the birds could land on the ground again like these Northern Flickers. 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 main food, and the flicker digs in the dirt to find them. It uses its long barbed tongue to lap up the ants.
Spring is also the time when birds are finding mates and Northern Flicker rivals face off in a display sometimes called a “fencing duel,” while a prospective mate looks on. Two birds face each other, bills pointed upward, and bob their heads in time. It was interesting to watch but I wonder what the female thinks of the males “fencing duel”.
Fencing Duel
