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Bird of the Month Northern Flickers are large woodpeckers with a rounded head, slightly downcurved bill, and long tail. There are two subspecies, the "yellow-shafted" Northern Flicker of the East, whose underwing and undertail feathers are lemon yellow, and the "red-shafted" Northern Flicker of the West, whose underwing and undertail feathers are salmon red. Males of both subspecies have a mustache stripe, black in the eastern yellow-shafted and red in the western red- shafted. Unlike other woodpeckers, Northern Flickers are often on the ground and often perch upright on horizontal branches of trees instead of leaning their tails on a trunk. They eat mainly insects, especially ants and beetles, that they gather from the ground. They also eat fruits and seeds, especially in winter. Northern Flickers excavate their nest holes in dead or diseased tree trunks or large branches. Flickers make a loud single-note call, often sounding like "kyeer," about a half-second long. Northern Flickers live in open habitats with trees, including woodlands, yards, and parks. They are year-round residents across the entire lower 48, except for southern Texas and southern California, and southward through the mountains of Mexico to Nicaragua. In summer, part of the population moves north to breed across most of Canada and Alaska. In the winter, part of the population moves into southern Texas and southern California. Red-shafted Northern Flickers are a fairly common sight and their loud call a fairly common sound during winter at Four Seasons. Several were seen during the Birding Club's Nov. 6 bird walk. ~ Steve Edelman, steve.h.edelman@gmail.com Birding CLUB Winter birds have been arriving! During October and early November we had winter arrivals of Western Bluebirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, Yellow- rumped Warblers, a Downy Woodpecker, American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Northern Flickers (our Bird of the Month). Black- throated Gray Warblers seen in late October were probably the last pass- through migrants of the fall season. On Nov. 6, we had a nice group and good weather for the morning bird walk. We saw 19 species, the highlight of which was a mixed flock of American Robins and first-of-season Cedar Waxwings feeding on red berries between trails A and B. Later in the day, Tina Canon, Genie and Bill Cooper, Tom Paulek, Peter and Julie Shuttleworth, Barbara Wasco, and I saw nine additional species, including a Great Horned Owl that Barbara Wasco saw before sunrise, for a total of 28 species for the day. FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | DECEMBER 2021 39 Northern Flicker. This bird is a male as indicated by the red mustache stripe. Note the salmon red underwing and undertail feathers characteristic of the red-shafted subspecies of the West. Photo by the US Forest Service The Birding Club on Trail B on Nov. 6 Northern Flicker on Trail B, one of several seen during the Nov. 6 bird walk. This bird is a female as indicated by the absence of a mustache stripe. Photo by Club member Gerrie Karczynski

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