January 4, 2026
A Northern Flicker Yellow Shafted form (Colaptes auratus luteus) in the underbrush. They generally feed on the ground using their beak as a probing tool. Eating fruits, berries, seeds, and nuts, but they also eat ants which can make up almost half of their diet.
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December 26, 2025
This is a Northern Flicker yellow shafted form (Colaptes auratus luteus). See his black mustache? That indicates that he is a male. But of course!
He is a bird that is native to a great part of North America, some of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands. Though most woodpeckers don’t migrate, this is one species that does migrate. At least some of them. Those in the northern part of their native range will migrate further south and west during the winter to find more abundant sources of their favorite foods of ants and other insects on the ground. Another of their goals is to find areas with less snow cover, which of course helps to find those ants and insects.
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