The Northern Flicker is North America’s widest-ranging woodpecker, a typical inhabitant of forest edges, savannas, and suburban areas from Alaska to Mexico to Maine. However it’s also among the many extra uncommon members of its household. As a substitute of the black-and-white plumage and tree-clinging habits typical of its woodpecker cousins, glints have dappled brown feathers and an inclination to hug the bottom. One might argue that these medium-large birds may be extra aptly referred to as dirtpeckers—and because the species already has dozens of folks names, what’s another? With their distinctive conduct, flashy pops of shade, and noisy interactions, glints aren’t simply distinctive amongst woodpeckers, they’re additionally amongst North America’s most adorable neighborhood birds. Learn on to be taught extra about what units the Northern Flicker aside.
1.) Though theories abound, no one is kind of sure how the sparkle obtained its frequent title. Some say its brightly coloured feather shafts, which can seem to flicker because the hen flies previous, had been the inspiration. Others declare it refers to both the wicka wicka calls the woodpecker makes when agitated or the flicking movement of its wings and tail because it cries.
2.) Through the years, the flicker has been identified by myriad different monikers throughout the nation. A 1900 monograph by Frank L. Burns lists 124 regional names. Some reference the plumage: yellowhammer, as Alabamans know their state hen, for its feather shafts; cotton-rump, for the outstanding white patch seen when it takes flight; and crescent-bird, for the black semicircle on its breast. Others are folksy phrases derived from native vernacular and legend, corresponding to gaffle woodpecker (likening the hen to a “gaffer”—a talkative previous man) or shad-spirit (referring to the coincidence of the hen’s arrival with the spring migration of shad up Massachusetts rivers). All in all, the sparkle has more folk names than every other American breeding hen, in response to James Ok. Sayre’s 1996 e book, North American Hen Folknames and Names.
3.) Till 1973, the Northern Flicker was categorized as two separate species: the Yellow-shafted Flicker, discovered east of the Rocky Mountains, and the Pink-shafted Flicker to the west. (The cactus-dwelling Gilded Flicker of the Southwest was additionally lumped beneath the Northern Flicker umbrella in 1973, but it surely was made a full species once more in 1985.) Yellow-shafted and red-shafted birds differ not solely within the hues of their colourful wing and tail feather shafts, but in addition within the patterns on their napes (unadorned gray-brown within the West, accented with pink within the East) and cheeks (grey on red-shafted birds and brown on their jap counterparts). Yellow-shafted males even have a black mustache whereas red-shafted males have a pink streak. Research point out that, regardless of their variations, the birds have very related DNA and are greatest labeled as a single species. The 2 kinds interbreed freely the place their ranges overlap within the western Nice Plains, producing offspring with numerous traits of their mother and father—together with orange-tinted flight feathers.
4.) Genetics aren’t the one means glints get their flare. When birds within the East eat the berries of the invasive bush honeysuckle, pink pigments from the fruits generally infuse rising feathers, leading to birds with a mixture of yellow and pink on their wings and tails. Such people had been as soon as regarded as descended from western mother and father, however recent research confirmed that the brand new addition to their food plan was the wrongdoer.
5.) Whereas Northern Glints do take pleasure in fruit occasionally, ants are their bread and butter. The woodpeckers probe the bottom with their lengthy payments and versatile tongues looking for their favourite meals or different tasty bugs. Their pursuit of anthills typically leads them to lawns, parks, and different patches of brief grass or naked filth.
6.) Glints hunt down ants for greater than only a fast meal. When visiting ant colonies, the birds generally unfold their wings out over the mounds and permit the bugs to crawl on them in a conduct known as “anting.” The precise operate of anting, which has been noticed in lots of of species however appears to be notably frequent amongst glints, is unknown, however it’s thought to assist management feather parasites or scale back pores and skin irritation whereas molting.
7.) Like all self-respecting woodpecker, Northern Glints additionally bang on bark to forage and carve out nest cavities. Whereas excavating timber, pairs talk with each other by way of ritual tapping, an intimate sample that glints and different woodpeckers reserve for acknowledging their companions. To announce their territories to a wider viewers, glints hammer in opposition to the loudest floor they will discover, which is most frequently a lifeless department however can embody notably resonant metal objects.
8.) Male glints play a bigger position in rearing younger than the females, an association referred to as partially reversed intercourse roles. Throughout breeding season, the male takes the lead in constructing the nest and incubating eggs—some of the smallest relative to grownup physique dimension of any birds on this planet. Females stay concerned all through the breeding course of, nonetheless, so the intercourse roles are usually not thought-about utterly reversed. (That situation, noticed in only some birds together with emus and phalaropes, entails the feminine’s complete desertion of the nest after egg laying.)
9.) Unusually migratory amongst woodpeckers, glints flee the northern reaches of their vary in winter to keep away from frost and ice that blocks entry to their underground meals. On the East Coast, peak fall migration days generally deal with fortunate observers to spectacular flicker flights numbering within the 1000’s. Whereas most birds settle in areas the place temperatures not often dip beneath freezing, a couple of hardy people will courageous boreal or montane winters if they’ve entry to a constant meals supply like a suet feeder.
10.) For many years, this species has seen a slow but steady decline: Whereas nonetheless frequent and widespread with an estimated total population of 12 million, the variety of glints has decreased by a median of 1 % per 12 months over the previous half-century, with jap, yellow-shafted birds experiencing sharper losses. The causes of the decline are unknown, however threats might embody competitors for nest holes from invasive European Starlings, the removing of lifeless and dying timber that may present nesting habitat, and pesticide software on lawns and golf programs. Preserving snags and leaving lawns chemical-free can assist be certain that glints have ample alternative to thrive.