

To contribute, email me at bloubird@gmail.com.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Northern Flicker at heated bird bath

Northern Flickers are medium sized woodpeckers with black-barred brown back, yellow under the wings, and black tail. Flickers in mid-Michigan have black polka dots on the belly and a black bib under their long bill. The males also have a black “mustache.”

The Northern Flicker is becoming a common winter resident in mid-Michigan. Most of our flickers usually shift further south in the winter but more and more have been sighted at the feeders and baths just in the last decade.

Unlike most other woodpeckers, Northern Flickers are mainly ground feeders, eating ants, termites, caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, other insects, spiders, berries, seeds, and nuts. In the winter they like to feed from suet, nut, and seed cylinder feeders.

Flickers will roost in any open cavity in a tree, birdhouse, or they often drill holes in barns or find a spot under the eaves of houses for winter roosts. Larger birds, such as flickers and other woodpeckers, like to roost alone. At this time of year you’ll notice that flickers are the earliest of the backyard birds to retire at night, sometimes going to their lodgings an hour before sundown. But they go out soon after sunrise, unless there is bad weather.

Related Articles:
- Northern Flicker Roosts Alone in the winter http://bit.ly/zouUF6
- Northern Flicker Stops by for a Surprise Visit http://bit.ly/Aouqjf
- Fun Facts about Woodpeckers http://bit.ly/yGoOUc
- Why Flickers Flick Seeds from Feeders? http://bit.ly/Ar0Rin

No comments: