(Melanerpes formicivorus)
Info coming soon...
Showing posts with label Woodpeckers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Woodpeckers. Show all posts
Nuttall's Woodpecker
(Picoides nuttallii)
Named after naturalist Thomas Nuttall in 1843, the Nuttall's woodpecker resides primarily in California (although a few can be found a short distance into Baja and rarely in Oregon). They reside year round in their oak grove chaparral habitat foraging for insects among the trees. Members of a bonded pair remain together most all year. As primary cavity nesters that do not reuse their nest site year to year, they excavate new holes in live or dead trees like cottonwoods, willows, sycamores or even utility poles. These spaces later prove useful as nest sites to other similar sized bird species within the habitat.
Northern Flicker
(Colaptes auratus)
Although now considered just one species, there are two different forms of Northern Flickers. In the east and north the Yellow-shafted Flicker can be found while Red-shafted Flickers are the form we find here in the west. Differences between the forms can be seen more easily on birds in flight since the red or yellow coloration is found under the tail and on the primary feather shafts of their underwings. The two forms can interbreed in areas where their range comes in contact. It has been observed that Red-shafted Northern Flickers spend the winters in our local area and usually arrive from their migratory trip in mid-September.
Despite being a member of the woodpecker family, Northern Flickers spend more of their time foraging for insects on the ground (even though they can use their beaks to hammer through wood). Having the ability to probe underground with a tongue that can protrude as much as 2 inches beyond the tip of their bill allows the flicker to capture nutritious ant larvae. Ants can make up 45% of the flicker's diet. Flickers also use ants as a means to keep them free of parasites with a behavior called anting, where they use the acid from the ants to assist in preening. Other than insects, their diet also consists of berries and seeds especially in the winter. Berries often are the source of pigments that either of the two forms of flickers incorporate into their feathers. This information along with presence of a type of invasive honeysuckle berry helped solve a mystery of how birds with reddish coloration (previously assumed only to be determined by genetics) were found thousands of miles east of the hybrid zone in the 1960s. For more information about this topic follow the link to this article here (Mystery Solved: Invasive Berries to Blame for Turning Flickers’ Feathers Pink).
Northern Flickers do behave like the other members of their woodpecker family by drumming on objects as a form of communication or territory defense. Sometimes they will even drum on metal objects to make as loud a noise as possible.