Gilded Flicker

Gilded Flicker, adult male; Tucson, AZ

About the photographs

About the map

Gilded Flicker, adult female; Tucson, AZ

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A large and common woodpecker of the saguaro cactus forests of the Sonoran Desert, the Gilded Flicker has the gray face and red mustache of the "red-shafted" form of the Northern Flicker, but the yellow wings of the "yellow-shafted" form.

Cool Facts

• A study reported that European Starlings had no effect on the nesting success of the Gilded Flicker in saguaro cactus, even though the two birds compete for nest holes. Starlings did negatively affect the Gila Woodpecker, perhaps because they were able to displace the smaller woodpecker. The larger and more aggressive Gilded Flicker may have been better able to compete for holes.
• In the 1960s, taxonomists grouped the Gilded Flicker with the Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted flickers as a single species, the Northern Flicker, in recognition of the extensive interbreeding of the forms. The limited hybridization of the Gilded Flicker with the other forms, especially in light of their widespread hybrid zone, was the basis for the later change to recognize the Gilded Flicker as its own species.

Description

• Size: 28 cm (11 in)
• Wingspan: 48 cm (19 in)
• Weight: 92-129 g (3.25-4.55 ounces)

• Medium to large woodpecker.
• Grayish brown.
• Barred on top, spotted below.
• Black crescent on chest.
• Rump white, conspicuous in flight.
• Yellow patches in wings obvious in flight.

• Back grayish brown with dark barring.
• Underparts off-white or buffy with numerous small black spots.
• Back of neck gray.
• Tail black above.
• Eyes black.
• Feet gray.
• Central shaft and undersides of wing and tail feathers bright yellow.
• Face and throat gray.
• Crown and nape brown.
• Male with red mustache mark.
• Female with brown mustache mark on gray face.

Sex Differences

Male with red mustache stripe. Female with brown mustache stripe, or lacking one altogether.

Immature

Juvenile resembles adult, but colors duller.

Similar Species

• Northern Flicker very similar, but "red-shafted" form has reddish wing and tail feathers. "Yellow-shafted" form has brown face and red crescent on the nape; male has a black mustache mark.

Sound

Call a long series of loud "wik-wik-wik" notes. Also a softer "wik-a-wik-a-wik-a," and a strong single-note "peah."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Resident in Arizona, very southeastern California, and western Mexico.

Habitat

Strongly associated with, but not completely restricted to, giant cactus forests of southwestern deserts.

Food

Insects, primarily ants. Also fruits and seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages primarily on ground.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Digs hole in saguaro cactus. Cavity unlined.

Egg Description

White.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless.

Conservation Status

Populations appear stable or increasing in the United States.

Other Names

Pic chrysolïde (French)
Carpintero aliamarillo, Carpintero de alas amarillas (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Moore, W. S. 1995. Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). In The Birds of North America, No. 166 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.