Northern Flicker

Colaptes auratus

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/id

All winter I was thinking of this one beautiful woodpecker that appears at Protection Farm only in the spring.  They are in WNY year round but they always show up here when the  dirt is fresh and wet and all the little critters that they like to eat are just emerging from a long winters sleep.  they are never around in the summer, fall, or winter. not sure why. Must be the food is better in the spring.

They are migratory and northern birds move southward in the winter.

Protection Farm Flickers like to eat the native Digger bee’s that nest in the sandy soil between the house and the barn.

The flickers are really quite colorful and have a determined attitude as they forage and dig relentlessly. They are somewhat wary of people, but hang out with many other foraging birds on the ground including cowbirds, junco’s a variety of sparrows, and even bluebirds. 

They have long barbed tongues for eating the delicious below ground grubs, ants, beetles, and bees.

The subspecies of Northern Flicker that we have in the east is known as the Yellow-shafted. In the west the bird Northern Flicker subspecies is called the Red-shafted. there are substantial coloration differences including the male "Moustache" or "Malar", which in the Red-shafted is red.

They nest in tree cavities, but have been known to nest in abandoned earth burrows.

The Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted are subspecies of the Northern Flicker. They do hybridize easily.

The male has a "moustache" aka "malar"

The female does not have a "moustache"

The Yellow-shafted has a red crescent nape. This feature is absent in the western Red-shafted Northern Flicker. Note the yellow in the wing margin. the actual quill of the feather is yellow. Same with the tail feathers.

The slightly curved bill is perfect for digging in the dirt!

these birds have a white patch on their rump which is visible when they fly. I spent two days trying to scare the flickers away so that I could get a shot of the white patch but I have not, so far, been able to get an in focus shot.

The Flicker has a very distinctive call, a little like the Pileated:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds

Awesome Winter 2011 Bird Photos

As the winter has drawn to an end, kicking and screaming, I have selected a bunch of photos that I want to publish here. Almost all of these were taken this winter, and all were taken by me, unless noted.

I will be working on this page in the coming days. so be patient.

Pileated Woodpecker

In a lot of ways this is one of my favorite shots. This bird is a spectacular ghost bird for me (not the real ghost bird). I have dwelled in the house of pileated for most of my life. I came across this scene out my living room window at dawn on the first day of spring 2011. I was at my desk when it called just outside my window. It was still very dark. The lights were off in the house. I grabbed the camera, headed for the living room where the big picture window is.  I  barely got my eye around to the corner of the window when it saw me. It immediately started to move behind the tree. I raised the camera up, snapped from across the room through the window. (250/Cannon It was on a white pine tree 100 feet from my house, and I was 10 feet away from the window and shooting through glass. Did I mention it was still dark?

More: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id

Hear: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds

Dark-eyed Junco:

Recently several species of Junco including what was known as “Slate-colored Junco” were found to be one species-Junco hyemalis-Dark-eyed Junco.

The species is highly variable as to exact upper feather coloration ranging from very black or blue, or even reddish/brown, to a much lighter grey.  We had quite a variety of individuals this winter. Females are usually lighter colored. White underneath, pink beak and legs. Curious but cautious. They were winter long regular winter feeder visitors. They stayed low, almost always on the ground, and hid sometimes under the porch. A couple of times in the past 3 winters I have had to rescue Junco’s that got trapped under the porch as the snow-piled up.  I always know to look if we have a big storm.

More:

Cornell

 http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco/id

Enature

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=&searchText=junco&cmdSubmit.x=0&cmdSubmit.y=0&GroupID=&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1