Tuesday, July 6, 2021

¡Hello there! / Northern Flicker Meditation


 
















Yesterday I heard a bird's voice coming from my porch.  I wouldn't have identified it as the voice of a Northern Flicker but when I looked outside I saw the tail end of one at the corner of the floor of my porch.  The vocalizing continued as I went to get my camera.  After I had taken the first photo, the Northern Flicker turned around.  When it saw me, it flew away.  

I've not put my suet feeder out during the summer for some years but decided to keep it stocked with suet through the summer this year.  I'm not sure how many Northern Flickers are visiting my suet feeder -- if I am just seeing one or two or a family or various families.  

Despite some initial resistance, I was able to slow myself down enough to relax and spend 20 minutes with the Northern Flickers in the following YouTube video.  I was rewarded with hearing the vocalization (at 9:09) that had caught my attention.  If you don't have 20 minutes, I'll just suggest looking at and listening to the Northern Flicker nestlings at 1 minute and at 19 minutes.

Now I'm wondering if the Northern Flicker in my photos was an immature one.  I've noticed immature Red-winged Blackbirds crouching in a similar posture with their beaks open, vocalizing that they wish to be fed.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such beautiful birds. It's been a while since I've seen or heard one. Love this.

Colette said...

Big bird! I looked it up to see how big they get and saw that it's a woodpecker. I'm ignorant about birds, but increasingly interested. Very cool.

Colette said...

Here's a shorter video of a Western Flicker. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds

am said...

Colette -- Thank you so much for the link which had a recording exactly like the sounds I heard coming from my porch!

ellen abbott said...

we have flickers here too though I imagine a different variety. they do have a distinctive call. the one in your picture has a red slash under its beak instead of black like in the video.

am said...

Ellen -- Wow! Interesting. Good noticing! I didn't notice that. Looked around a little bit and found something with a photo of a Northern Flicker with what they call a red "mustache."

http://www.birdcanada.com/intergrade-northern-flickers/

Pixie said...

Lovely birds. We get them here as well, but more commonly we get downy woodpeckers.

Sabine said...

Thank you for introducing me to this wonderful bird.

Carruthers said...

What a wonderful bird. The most exotic ones we get are woodpeckers. Just been fixing up the peanut-feeder here with wire to stop the jackdaws tearing it down (I love jackdaws but I would like to keep the feeder in one piece!).

Elizabeth said...

Beautiful! My partner, Carl, is a bird photographer and has some beautiful shots of a Northern Flicker. He has a wonderful Instagram: @cbjfoto and @mo_better_birds. Here's a link: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgrDkU3Hqcd/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Elizabeth said...

Carl says that it's his favorite woodpecker: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bslni42BhdQ/?utm_medium=share_sheet

37paddington said...

Nature is a song. Love this.

am said...

Elizabeth -- Thank you so much for the links to Carl's beautiful photos of a Northern Flicker. I'm not on Instagram so I couldn't "Heart" the photos. Let him know that I would if I could!