Northern Flicker Woodpecker, British Columbia. Canada. SCO 7873
All northern flickers show a bold black chest crescent, a white rump, and bright color (salmon-red or yellow) in the shafts and much of the vanes of the flight feathers and on the underwing coverts. All northern flickers are pale buffy white to rich buff below with black spotting and have brown to gray-brown backs with black barring. Adult: sexes are similar, but males have a malar mark (red in the “red-shafted,” black in the “yellow-shafted”) that is lacking in females. The yellow-shafted has a gray crown with a red crescent on the nape, a tan face and throat, and rich buff underparts with a relatively narrow chest crescent. The flight feathers and underwing linings are golden yellow. The red-shafted has a grayish head and throat with pale brown on the forecrown and loral region, lacks red on the nape, and has paler buff to creamy underparts with broader chest crescent; the flight feathers and underwing linings are salmon pink. Introgressant individuals that combine characters of both groups are widely seen; they general resemble the yellow-shafted or the red-shafted group but show 1 or more characters of the other group. The “red-shafted” and “yellow-shafted” groups, formerly considered separate species, are easily distinguished, but identification is complicated by the wide occurrence of intergrades showing intermediate or combined characters of both groups.
Size: 4067px × 5583px
Location: Seacrest, Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island. British Columbia. Canada.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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