Gilded Flicker
Colaptes chrysoides
Large woodpecker, very similar to Northern Flicker. Overall pale sandy brown with gray face and brown crown. Spotted below with black oval on chest. Underwing and shafts of flight feathers bright yellow. Males have red mustache stripe; sexes otherwise alike. Combination of face pattern and yellow in wings helps distinguish from both "Red-shafted" and "Yellow-shafted" Northern Flickers. Shows a strong affinity for saguaro cactus but also found in nearby woodland. Gives a piercing "kleer" call similar to Northern Flicker.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Colaptes chrysoides
- Authority
- (Malherbe, 1852)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Colaptes
Range and habitat
The gilded flicker most frequently builds its nest hole in a saguaro cactus, excavating a nest hole nearer to the top than to the ground. Less frequently, they will also nest in desert washes with cottonwood or willow. Cavities in saguaros are excavated a year before they are inhabited. The cactus defends itself against water loss into the cavity of the nesting hole by secreting sap that hardens into a waterproof structure that is known as a saguaro boot. Northern flickers, on the other hand, nest in riparian trees and very rarely inhabit saguaros. Gilded flickers occasionally hybridize with northern flickers in the narrow zones where their ranges and habitats overlap.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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