When they fly you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, … Their sturdy bills enable both male and female flickers to prepare their nest holes quickly. Female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), lacks the black malar of the male Northern Flicker (female) ~ By Gary Mueller This beautiful bird should be filed in animals, but it's really a color palette. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. Photo: Dawn Key/Audubon Photography Awards. Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. I liked this unusual (for me) view of this woodpecker. Male Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted). More Flicker photos Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. Colaptes auratus . Two very different-looking forms -- Yellow-shafted Flicker in the east and north, and Red-shafted Flicker in the … Northern Flicker. Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. Large black necklace and buffy underparts spotted with black. I like to awaken to their drumming on our roof and gutter, too. Flickers often drum on metal roofs and farm equipment to create maximum noise. Adult Male (Red-shafted). A male red-shafted Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) prepares to hunt ants and beetles on the ground and in crevices. When they fly you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, … This brown woodpecker flashes bright colors under the wings and tail when it flies. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. When they fly you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in … Flickers nest in hollow trees and behave as other woodpeckers do if their nest cavities need to be enlarged. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. Its ringing calls and short bursts of drumming can be heard in spring almost throughout North America. Female Northern Flicker - Most Amazing Photography---check out those dots. Peachy-brown face with a black whisker constrast with a gray nape and crown with a red spot on the nape.