Most woodpeckers have simple patterns of red, black, and white feathers and it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart. The Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) outdoes them all with a dazzling combination of colors and patterns—they are pretty easy to identify.
The sky was overcast yesterday morning when I went exploring at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I had to play around with my camera exposures and as a result the background turned almost pure white when I photographed this male Northern Flicker that had light coming from behind him. I like the effect in this case because it helps viewers to focus on the details of the beautiful bird, including the wonderful yellow feathers that you can see in the final photo. In case you are curious, I can tell that the flicker is a male because of the black “mustache” that females do not have.
There are two distinct subspecies of flickers. The ones that we have in the North and East have a little red crescent on the back of its neck, yellow underwings, and, in the case of males, a black mustache. The western flickers have no red crescent, have red underwings, and, in the case of males, a red mustache.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful photographs of a beautiful bird. Thank you.
One of my favorite birds! Thanks for the info. I like the photo where you can see his tail feathers! 👍 I see these birds about once a year on our crabapple tree. They are so big compared to the Robins. They are dazzling!
Very nice high key captures, Mike! The last one of the “stretch” is particularly interesting showing off the chest spots and tail feathers.
Interestingly, I was just talking with my son about the Flicker the other day and how they differ from other woodpeckers. Your description of their features is fantastic! Wonderful photos.
Nice Mike! Brings back memories of my old home where we had so many in the trees in our yard and the woods across the street. One of my favorite birds to photograph!
Great photos, Mike. I love watching Flickers.
Thanks, Dan, and I suspect that you also remember watching My Friend Flicka. 🙂
I do!