The northern, or as it used be called, the red-shafted flicker, is one of my very favorite fine feathered friends to visit the bird feeders in my garden. They are very shy and spooked by the slightest of sounds or movements. I love the dotted plumes and the black bibs on their chests, but when in flight, the undersides of their wings and tail are a gorgeous rusty orange color. And as so often in the animal kingdom, the males are prettier (or should I say handsome?!) with their reddish mustaches.
Sometimes I hear them hammering against the chimney or roof early in the morning.
Sometimes they just hang out on the back fence and watch all the other birds coming through.
And then they disappear into the woods as suddenly as they appeared at the feeder.
What kinds of woodpeckers are native to your area?
Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!
Sabine
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Have a blessed weekend Sabine. Nice shots.
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You too Arlene!
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Thanks!
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We get green woodpeckers, which bounce around the lawn eating ants, and g
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Sorry! Hit the wrong button! And greater spotted woodpeckers, which bounce around on our birdtable! I love the sound of the woodpecker. Our lime tree is dotted with holes, in neat rows.
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We have trees dotted with perfect circles of woodpecker holes. They are fun! Thanks for always reading and commenting Ali!
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Sabine, I love the perspectives that you get on your shots, especially the bird with a bite in his mouth. Fabulous! Happy weekend!
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Happy weekend to you too Missy! 🙋
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Great slide show at the suet feeder.
The red-shafted version of the northern flicker may still be common in the Hudson Valley, but I have not seen one recently. When I did see them feeding, they were usually on the ground eating ants. Still plenty of ants.
My suet and seed feeders do attract other woodpeckers (red-bellied and downy) and I sometimes see a pileated working on a dead tree. Saw a very good photo of a pileated recently; it is much better than any I could hope to get:
https://throughopenlens.com/2018/03/24/headbanger/
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Our flickers rarely forage on the ground. We do get the downy and pleated woodpeckers too. I’ll have to check the other one but I don’t think we have them in my area.
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One of the woodpeckers we have in MI is a very small one that I think is called a Downy Woodpecker.
I love your photos of the flickers. They do look like they are wearing dotted swiss like the dresses my mom used to make for me out of dotted swiss fabric.
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Thanks LuAnne! The flickers are beautiful! We also have downy woodpeckers. Thanks for visiting!
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If you didn’t get photos of them, I wouldn’t see them. At least not in my own yard. How did I not see this post? Glad I decided to look back this morning. You capture them so well. I can usually only hear them. I think we are going to the beach today. !
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Flickers are some of my favorite birds! Oh! The beach sounds perfect on a day like this! I hope it was fun!
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A very pretty bird!!! The dots are adorable. (Unfortunately I know little about our birds over here… a shame, really!)
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Snow, I knew very little about birds until my boys came along. One of them became very interested in them around 4 years old. So we started to explore and watch and learn together! That was a quarter century ago! 😂 The rest is history, as they say! Yesterday afternoon I spotted a bald eagle circling high above my yard!
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Eagles look so impressive. How fun to hear your kids “taught” you to be interested in birds! Hmm, wonder what mine will teach me… 🙂
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Only time will tell Snow! And yes, eagles are very impressive!
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