Sunday, March 23, 2025

Northern Flicker On The Edge of Spring ...

 “A forest bird never wants a cage.”

   ~ Henrik Ibsen

            ~ 1828 ~ 1906

I spotted this yellow-shafted Northern Flicker – the first I’ve ever captured in a photo – nestled in the grass gazing upon the looming late winter sunset of a March day at Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

According to All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. When they fly you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, red if you’re in the West – and a bright white flash on the rump.