like _wake-up, wake-up, wake-up_, or _yarrup, yarrup, yarrup_,
given more deliberately in subdued tones and not so prolonged. This
has been referred to as the scythe-sharpening, or rollicking, song
and has also been written as _yucker, yucker, yucker_, or _wicker,
wicker, wicker_, or _hick-up, hick-up, hick-up_, or _flicker,
flicker, flicker_. Mr. Bicknell (1885) has recorded these notes from
April 8 to September 5; there seems to be no seasonal regularity
about them, as they are probably affectionate notes of greeting.
Mr. Burns (1900) “heard an apparently rare variation, a metallic
_Ka-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-ka_ by the male
while close to the nest.”
He gives as conversational, or soliloquizing notes, “commonly a
scanny, gurgling, almost involuntary _chur-r-r-r_ as danger seems
to threaten it when on the wing, or when flushed from the ground or
just before a-lighting, which may be interpreted as a note of warning
or announcement of arrival according to the circumstances. I have
heard a low guttural _who-del_ as it endeavored to balance itself on
a slender branch immediately after arrival.” A bird on a house roof,
in December, “uttered an odd guttural call of _huck-a-woó-ah_ or
again only _woo woo_ evidently for his own edification.” Other soft
conversational notes sound like _ouit-ouit_, or _puir-puir_, or a
cooing _yu-cah-yu-cah_.
Dr. Eaton (1914) says: “When the flicker flies up from the ground
and alights on a stub or fence post, he frequently bobs and bows to
an imaginary audience and immediately thereafter jerks his head high
upward giving voice to a sharp note like the syllable ‘clape.’” This is
a loud, explosive note and may indicate defiance or surprise.
A common note, oftenest heard during summer and fall, is a plaintive
call suggesting one of the notes of the blue jay or the red-shouldered
hawk. It is a loud and rather musical note, which has been variously
interpreted as _pee-ut_, _ye-a-up_, _pee-up_, _que-ah_, _kee-yer_,
etc., given singly or repeated two or three times, as a ringing call of
considerable carrying power.
_Field marks._--While hopping about on the lawn, the flicker may be
recognized as a brown bird somewhat larger than a robin and with a
rather long bill; if facing the observer, the black crescent on the
spotted breast is rather conspicuous, but the red crescent on the
nape does not show up much except at short range, nor does the black
malar patch of the male. The most conspicuous field mark is the white
rump, which shows plainly as the bird rises from the ground and flies
away; this probably serves as a direction mark, or a warning to the
companions with which it is often associated. Then, of course, the
flash of bright yellow in the wings and tail marks the bird in flight,
chiefly when high in the air, but somewhat also in straightaway flight.
_Enemies._--When I was a boy, 50 or 60 years ago, flickers,
meadowlarks, and robins were considered legitimate game, and they were
very good to eat. Bunches of these birds were often seen hanging in the
game dealers’ stalls. During our fall vacations on the coast, when the
weather was unfavorable for coot shooting, my father and uncle used
to resort to the uplands to shoot “partridge woodpeckers” and “brown
backs” (robins) among the bayberry bushes and sumacs. And flickers were
slaughtered in large numbers in the South. Man was then the flicker’s
worst enemy, but that is now all ancient history, as these birds are
now protected. But a new enemy has been introduced, which is probably
worse than the old one. The European starling has come to compete with
the flicker in its search for a food supply. The starlings are now
so abundant that they swoop down in flocks on the formerly plentiful
supply of wild fruits and berries, stripping the trees and bushes clean
of the fruits on which the flickers and robins depended for their
summer and fall food. They also compete for nesting sites, fighting
for or usurping every available cavity, even driving the flickers
from the homes that they had made. Lester W. Smith writes to me: “For
several years after the starling became common in Connecticut, other
birds, especially the flicker, were seldom ejected, or not until all
available nesting possibilities about buildings were used and filled
up. Never have I seen the flickers actually fight to retain their hole
or bird house. On the sanctuary they were exceptionally noisy whenever
starlings attempted to take or had taken possession. On one occasion
three starlings took part; one remained in the entrance hole of the box
and took dry grass that a second brought to it; the third chased off
either of the pair of flickers, as it flew near the nest box, which
was about 8 feet from the ground on a sawed-off tree in a white-pine
grove. On shooting one of the starlings, the other four birds flew away
temporarily, and, on examination, I found a thin layer of grass over
the flicker’s eggs. In 15 minutes the starlings returned and a second
was shot. I removed the grass, and, hiding nearby, I saw nothing more
of the third starling; but the flickers returned soon, took possession
of the box, and later raised the five young.”
Sydney R. Taber (1921) tells an interesting story of a battle between
a male flicker and a pair of starlings for the possession of the
flickers’ nest. The flicker had once pulled one of the starlings out of
the hole, but, during his absence, both of the starlings entered the
hole.
On this second occasion, despairing of being able to pull
the two out at long range, so to speak, the Flicker also
plunged into the hole. Then followed a battle royal,
lasting for what seemed minutes. It was rather ghastly
to imagine the blows that were being dealt at closest
quarters; not a sound was emitted, but one could imagine
what was going on within the hole by the feathers that flew
from it. The first bird to emerge--that is, to be pushed
out, by fractions of an inch--was one of the Starlings,
which then flew away. The fight between the other two birds
then continued out of sight until something appeared at
the mouth of the hole. This proved to be the tail of the
Flicker. When he had backed out of the hole into view once
more, it appeared that he and the remaining Starling had
clinched in a desperate grapple. With the latter gripping
one of the wings of the Flicker, they fell, fluttering and
fighting, a distance of nearly 40 feet; but just before
touching the ground, they parted and flew in different
directions. * * *
The above events occurred a fortnight ago. Since then the
Starlings have been in full possession of the hole of
contention.
Flickers figure largely in the food of duck hawks; their brightly
colored feathers are often found about the aeries. Other hawks
take their toll. O. A. Stevens sends me the following note on a
sharp-shinned hawk attacking a flicker, perhaps only in sport: “The
hawk settled in a partially dead, spreading pine tree, some 8 feet
from the top. A flicker perched about 6 feet above him, apparently
from curiosity. For some time they remained, the hawk sitting quietly,
preening, occasionally casting a glance at the flicker. The latter
teetered about on his perch, craning his neck at the hawk and even
dropping down a foot or so. After at least 10 minutes, the hawk
suddenly darted at the flicker and away they went, the flicker twisting
and escaping. It seems odd that an apparently heavy flier like a
flicker would escape so easily.”
Mr. Burns (1903) adds the broad-winged hawk to the flicker’s enemies;
“a nest of lusty young hawks examined in July, ’01, contained the
primaries and rectrices of one or two young Flickers, probably just
out of the nest. * * * To the above Mr. Benj. T. Gault adds the
Blacksnake--one having been killed and cut open by a farmer’s lad at a
place he was stopping at in Reynolds county, Missouri, contained the
body of one of these woodpeckers.” I have positively recorded flickers
in the food of the marsh hawk, Cooper’s hawk, and red-shouldered
hawk; probably they are killed by all the larger hawks and owls.
Taverner and Swales (1907) say that the sharpshin flights at Point
Pelee discommoded the flickers less than any other species of small
birds. “Though at times they seemed uneasy and restless, they were
perfectly able to take care of themselves and easily made their escape
when attacked. * * * The usual course of procedure of the Flicker,
when attacked by a hawk, was to wait until the last minute, when the
hawk, in its swoop, was just about to seize its victim, and then dodge
quickly to the other side of the limb. In every case observed the ruse
worked perfectly, and we found only once the feather remains which
proved that once in a while the hawk was a little too quick for the
Flicker.”
Mr. Burns (1900) says that the eggs and young are sometimes destroyed
by squirrels, weasels, mice, crows, jays, and the red-headed
woodpecker. Fred. H. Kennard records in his notes that a pair of
flickers, nesting in one of his boxes, were robbed of their eggs by
some red squirrels, who ate the eggs in the box, built their own nest
in the box, and brought in their young from another nest.
_Fall._--As soon as the young are strong on the wing and the molting
season is over, the flickers, old and young, begin to gather into loose
flocks or scattered parties, perhaps family parties, late in summer
and early in fall. On cold, windy autumn days they may be found in
close companionship in hollows and sheltered localities in woodland
clearings, protected from the cold winds, and feeding in the bayberry
patches and clumps of staghorn sumac. At such times, they lie close and
can be easily approached.
In southern Canada and the Northern States, the great bulk of the
flickers start to migrate in September, continuing to pass southward
during October. Mr. Burns (1900) says of the fall migration: “While the
retrograde movements are conducted in larger numbers, being recruited
by great numbers of birds of the year, it is scarcely as noticeable,
lacking the noise and bustle of Spring arrivals. Like the Robin, its
whole nature seems to have undergone a change. It no longer solicits
notice by song or display, but becomes shy and suspicious, and while
gregarious to a great extent, in flight every one is capable of looking
out for itself. The mature birds are the most wary, and by example
prepare the young for the dangers of migration and Winter residence in
the South, where it is constantly menaced by hunters.”
During migration, they fly rather high, well above the treetops, in
widely detached flocks, often far apart, but keeping more or less in
touch with each other and sometimes fairly close together; hundreds
may be counted, as they pass in a steady stream for hours at a time.
Taverner and Swales (1907) report heavy flights across Lake Erie from
Point Pelee: “During September it has always been one of the most
abundant birds of the Point. Keays reports a flight in 1901 when he
noted four hundred September 21.” Long Point, which extends well out
from the north shore of Lake Erie, is another favorite crossing place;
here, according to L. L. Snyder (1931), “the flight observed by Mr.
James Savage on September 30, 1930, was very remarkable, individuals
estimated to be from one to two hundred yards apart, forming a
scattered and straggling flock, passed in an almost steady stream
throughout the morning hours.”
Mr. Burns (1903) writes:
In south New Jersey, in the region of the Upper Delaware
Bay, which runs due south, some time in October of every
year the migrating Flickers are found flying north just
previous to and during a northwest storm. At this time the
wind is generally high and the birds fly against it. This
peculiarity of flight affects a large territory extending
inland from the east shore of the bay some fifteen or
twenty miles. While the birds prefer to breast a wind,
it is also probable that they are reluctant to cross the
lower part of the bay during such a storm which would
tend to drive them seaward, rather preferring to return
northward to the more narrow river where they could cross
in comparative safety.
_Winter._--Winter finds most of the flickers gone from the northern
States and southern Canada. Most of the birds wintering in New England
seek the milder climate of the seacoast, where they feed in the
extensive bayberry patches and on the semidormant insect life in the
rows of drift seaweed along the beaches. The few that remain inland
during mild winters are usually to be found in sheltered hollows or
along the sunny sides of the woods, feeding on the ground or on what
berries and dry fruits still remain on the bushes, often in company
with merry little winter parties of juncos, tree sparrows, chickadees,
nuthatches, and perhaps a downy or hairy woodpecker. Favorite resorts
at that season are the southern slopes of the hills overgrown with
thick stands of red cedars, mixed with staghorn sumacs, barberries,
and other berry-bearing bushes. They probably seek shelter at night in
the dense cedar swamps or in the holes excavated for that purpose in
icehouses or other buildings, or in hollow trees.
L. H. Walkinshaw, of Battle Creek, Mich., writes to me that there, “in
deep winter, flickers can be found in the deep tamarack swamps, coming
to the edge during periods of the day. They often flush, even when snow
is deep, from mounds on the ground or from dead or dying stubs along
the border.”
O. A. Stevens says in his notes: “At my farm home in Kansas, the
flickers caused some annoyance by seeking entrance to the barn for
winter nights. They enlarged other openings for this purpose and
sometimes started openings which would not lead them inside. One bird
at least, enlarged the opening about the hayfork track and roosted on
the iron track just inside the door.”
Dr. Paul L. Errington (1936) writes an interesting story on the
winter-killing of flickers in central Iowa. By a careful study of
the droppings of the three birds that he studied, it appeared that
they were much weakened by improper food, too large a proportion of
indigestible seeds, mainly those of the sumac, and not enough animal
food, which ordinarily amounts to more than half of the average food
supply.
M. P. Skinner (1928), writing of the Sandhills of North Carolina,
says: “Flickers stay in the Sandhills all winter, but the infrequent
snowstorms cause them lots of trouble in finding food. On January
10, 1927, I found quite a little coterie of birds had scratched the
leaves under a dogwood tree until they had a space twelve feet in
diameter more or less cleared of snow. Here, among other species of
birds, were two Flickers foraging among the leaves for fallen dogwood
berries. These berries were probably eaten until weather conditions
became better for insect catching. Even during winter, ants are fairly
plentiful for the Sandhill Flickers, especially on warm days.”
COLAPTES CAFER COLLARIS Vigors
RED-SHAFTED FLICKER
PLATE 37
HABITS
This western representative of our well-known eastern flicker is so
closely related to it and so similar to it in all its habits that
practically all that has been written about the northern flicker
would apply equally well to the red-shafted species. The two differ
strikingly in coloration, but the color pattern is similar in both,
and the fact that they interbreed so freely and extensively where
their ranges come together shows their close relationship. The only
differences in their habitats, nesting, and feeding habits are due to
the differences in environments.
The red-shafted flicker is a wide-ranging species through many types
of open country or sparsely wooded regions, from the Rocky Mountains
to sea level on the Pacific coast. It is a common bird near human
habitations in thinly settled towns and villages and in agricultural
regions, as well as in the wilder foothills and mountain slopes up to
timberline, but not on the treeless plains or deserts. The Weydemeyers
(1928), referring to its haunts in northwestern Montana, give a good
idea of its habitat there, which would doubtless apply equally well
throughout its range elsewhere; they say: “The Flicker is most abundant
about farms and in cut-over woods, nesting commonly near barnyards and
in pastures. An observer will note fewer and fewer individuals as he
passes from cultivated farms into stump-lands; from there to virgin
forests of fir, larch, and yellow pine; thence into the lodgepole pine
and white pine woods of the lower part of the Canadian zone; and onward
into denser forests of alpine fir, spruce, and arborvitae. But he will
find the birds increasing in numbers on the rocky mountain slopes
and upward through the Hudsonian zone, where the species ranges to
timberline.”
Milton P. Skinner says in his Yellowstone Park notes: “This bird is
found at all elevations from the lowest at 5,300 feet to timberline at
9,500 feet, and in practically all kinds of habitat except the largest
opens, and even there I have seen it flying across from side to side.
It is in the sagebrush areas, in the borderland between forest and
open, in detached groves, and even in heavy forest.
“They are often seen on the ground, especially in May, but also in June
and July. Sometimes they are in the road. I have seen them frequently
in the grass and perched on a bowlder or a prostrate log. In addition
to these treeless and brushless localities, I often see flickers on the
ground under sagebrushes and greasewood; on the ground in a grove of
cedars and limber pines; under aspens, willows, cedars, firs and on
the ground amid the stumps of a former fir forest. I have-seen them in
groves of mixed lodgepole pines and aspens and in meadows where there
were only groves of willow bushes.”
_Courtship._--In the same notes Mr. Skinner says: “On April 29, 1915, I
saw a pair of flickers ‘dancing.’ They were on a dead lodgepole, and
although there was not much movement of the feet, the body was bent
from side to side and there was a constant ‘juggling’ or ‘jigging’
motion. The head was tilted back and the bill pointed up at an angle
of sixty degrees, with the neck outstretched. The neck, head, and
bill were in constant motion; the motion of the bill reminded me of a
musical director’s baton. Intervals of rest alternated with periods of
motion; the whole thing lasted perhaps 5 minutes.”
_Nesting._--Major Bendire (1895) says on this subject:
Its favorite nesting sites are old rotten stubs or trees,
such as cottonwoods, willows, sycamores, junipers, oaks,
and pines. It nests also in holes in banks, in the sides of
houses, in gate posts, etc. * * *
Among some peculiar nesting sites of this species the
following deserve mention:
Mr. Walter B. Bryant gives the following: “One of these
was in a bridge bulkhead, a few feet above the Carson
River, Nevada. The interior of the structure was filled
with gravel and large stones, among which the eggs
were deposited. Another pair used a target butt, at a
much-frequented range, as a substitute for a stump. A third
nest was in a sand bank, 3 feet from the top and 10 from
the creek. This hole was apparently specially prepared,
and not one made by a ground squirrel, such holes being
sometimes used by these birds.”
Mr. Charles A. Allen, of Nicasio, Calif., found a pair of
red-shafted flickers nesting in a similar situation in a
creek bank, the burrow containing seven eggs, which he
took. About ten days later, happening to pass the same
spot, he examined the hole again and found it occupied by a
California Screech Owl, which in the meantime had deposited
four eggs. Some two weeks subsequently he examined it for
a third time, and on this occasion the tenant proved to be
a Sparrow Hawk, which was setting on five handsome eggs.
There was no nesting material present on any occasion, the
eggs lying on some loose dirt.
Others have noted the bank-nesting habit of this flicker, which seems
to be rather common. Most of the nests, however, are excavated in
trees or stubs, at heights varying from ground level to 100 feet above
the ground. We found them nesting commonly in the Huachuca Mountains,
Ariz., in the sycamores in the canyons and in the tall pines near the
summits at 9,000 feet. A large majority of the nests will be found
between 8 and 25 feet above the ground. Dawson (1923) mentions a nest
“in a stump only two feet high, and its eggs rested virtually upon
the ground.” Walter P. Taylor (1912) mentions a nest in a cavity in
a haystack, in the desert regions of Humboldt County, Nev., where
there were practically no trees. This flicker also nests frequently in
telegraph and other poles, also far too often in buildings, where it
drills a hole through the outer wall and lays its eggs on a beam or
other flat surface, accumulating enough chips to keep the eggs from
rolling.
Florence A. Merriam Bailey (1896) watched a red-shafted flicker
excavating its nest-hole, of which she says: “The flicker hung with
claws planted in the hole, and with its tail braced at an angle under
it, leaned forward to excavate. Using its feet as a pivot, it gradually
swung in farther and farther; and when it had gone so far that it had
to reach back to throw out its chips, it swung in and out on its feet
like an automatic toy wound up for the performance. When it had been
building for a week, only the tip of its tail protruded from the nest
hole as it worked.”
Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock (1904) says: “The site having been chosen, the
male clings to the surface and marks with his bill a more or less
regular circle in a series of dots, then begins excavating inside this
area, using his bill, not with a sidewise twist, as do many of the
woodpecker family, but striking downwards and prying off the chips as
with a pickaxe. When his mate has rested and wishes to share in the
labor, she calls from a near-by tree and he instantly quits his task.”
Dr. and Mrs. Grinnell (Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale, 1930) made the
following observations on this species, while excavating its nest-hole:
The bird entered the hole, entirely out of view, at 8:54,
reappeared from within at 9:05, when it rested a minute
with the head partly out; then it proceeded to bring out
from within load after load of chips, which showered
down as if of fine, almost sawdust-like size. Forty-five
such loads were counted to 9:10, delivered with striking
regularity. Twelve loads delivered were counted in one
sixty-second period. At 9:10 the bird disappeared again
till 9:15, when its head appeared and twenty-seven loads
were flipped out in three minutes; then after a long pause,
till 9:19, the other flicker arrived, with scythe-whetting
note, and both birds flew off. One of them returned at
9:29, flipped out several loads of chips and left at 9:31.
Digging in this particular stump must have been easy and
hence rapid.
_Eggs._--The red-shafted flicker lays five to twelve eggs to a set.
Probably, if the experiment were tried, it would prove to be as
prolific an egg layer as its eastern relative, though I have found no
evidence to that effect. The eggs are indistinguishable from those of
the northern flicker. The measurements of 57 eggs average 28.18 by
21.85 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =35.56=
by 20.32, 27.94 by =24.89=, =25.40= by 20.83, and 27.68 by =19.30=
millimeters.
_Young._--Mrs. Wheelock (1904) says of the young: “For nearly three
weeks they are fed by regurgitation, and after that time the insects
brought are masticated by the parents. * * *
“After they are old enough to leave the nursery, they follow their
parents about for nearly two weeks, begging to be fed and gradually
learning to hunt for themselves. This lesson is wisely taught by the
parents, who place the food under a crevice in the bark, in full sight
of the young, who must pick it out or go hungry. The baby cocks his
head wisely, looks at it, and proceeds to pull it out and dine.”