Animal
Northern flicker
Colaptes auratus
Also known as: yellow-shafted flicker, common flicker
A medium-sized woodpecker (12 inches) with distinctive black-spotted brown body, white rump (visible in flight), and bright yellow underwings. Unlike most woodpeckers, flickers forage primarily on the ground — eating ants and other insects from soil and lawn. Common year-round on Staten Island; among the borough's most-frequently-seen woodpeckers. Distinctive 'wicka-wicka-wicka' courtship call in spring.
Scientific
Colaptes auratus is a 4–6 oz woodpecker — distinctive in being a primarily ground-foraging woodpecker. Diet ~45% ants (eaten by probing into ant nests), supplemented with other insects, fruits, and seeds. Brown body with black spots and a black bib; bright yellow underwings (in eastern “yellow-shafted” populations) flash visibly in flight.
Cavity nester — excavates own cavities in dead wood. Like other woodpeckers, the abandoned cavities become important shelter for cavity-using species (chickadees, screech owls, squirrels).
The “wicka-wicka-wicka” loud sustained call is a distinctive spring courtship vocalization. Flickers also drum on resonant surfaces (dead branches, metal flashing on roofs) for territorial display — sometimes leading to homeowner-vs-bird conflicts in residential settings.
On Staten Island
Common year-round across the borough’s parks, residential yards, woodland edges. Often seen feeding on lawns — pulling ants from anthills with the long sticky tongue. Among the more-frequently-encountered woodpeckers on SI.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[downy-woodpecker]]
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology eBird and species accounts
- NYC Audubon SI bird-survey records
Rooted in life.
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