Here’s a recent shot of a Northern Flicker and although I’ve featured them here before, previous posts have featured the ‘Western’ variant where as this shot is from the East coast of Canada. It is a great example for showing the regional differences which I have mentioned previously in posts such as ‘Northern Flicker’. The western birds have a magnificent orangey red under their wings and the males feature a red ‘moustache’ on the cheeks and they are often referred to as ‘red-shafted’. As can partly be seen here, the eastern variation of these birds have a bright yellow colouration under their wings, the moustache on the males is black and these birds feature a red nape at the back of the head along with a much browner face. Unsurprisingly, they are also often referred to as ‘yellow-shafted flickers. Just to add to any confusion, hybrids are not unheard of at the edges of the ranges shared by these birds, with hybrid birds being a mid-range of the two colourations. See also Woodpeckers Gallery.
