I grew up on Flicker Drive in Florissant, Missouri, so northern flickers (Colaptes auratus) really capture my imagination. These woodpeckers are exceptionally handsome, with the yellow feathers (the yellow-shafted flickers live in the eastern U.S.) so distinctive when they fly. There is a video … just scroll down a bit!
Northern flicker, Turtle Pond, Central Park, April 19, 2020
Northern flicker, Azalea Pond, the Ramble, Central Park, April 22, 2023
Northern flicker, the bathing rock, the Pool, Central Park, May 26, 2021
Northern flicker, April 1, 2020, Central Park
Northern flicker, Central Park, April 1, 2020
Northern flicker, Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, April 16, 2019
A very loud and attractive male flicker could be heard all across Hunter Island in Pelham Bay Park on April 16, 2019. (You can tell the male from the female from the “mustache” next to the beak.) I was able to take a short video, where he calls loudly from a hole, scratches, stretches out his wing to display his yellow feathers, calls again, then flies off. I heard him all the time I was walking around Pelham that day. I didn’t add music to this video — he provided his own soundtrack!
I have filmed a lot of flickers throughout New York City, and will post more photos and videos soon. For now, these photos were taken April 16, 2019, at Pelham Bay Park.
