My fall Northern Flicker is back. I’ve had one or two of them visit the feeders for the last three years in October and November.
The migrating flocks of starling and grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds are crazy-big this year. Sometimes my backyard sounds like a swamp, and they are emptying my feeders faster than I can fill them. But flickers are much bigger than all of those birds, so this bird has no trouble getting the seeds he wants.
Flickers are unusual in that rather than hunting for insects on tree trunks and tree branches, they are ground-foraging woodpeckers. And this fun fact about Flickers comes from the All About Birds website:
Early in spring and summer, rivals may face off in a display sometimes called a “fencing duel,” while a prospective mate looks on. Two birds face each other on a branch, bills pointed upward, and bob their heads in time while drawing a loop or figure-eight pattern in the air, often giving rhythmic wicka calls at the same time.