Northern Flickers – and dogs – strike 2 different notes this week with Charlie Fineran!

First, the birds! Northern Flickers are the most terrestrial (living on the land) of all North American woodpeckers.  They hunt for their prey mainly on the ground, there, they use their curved bill to dig for ants and beetles.  They use their long barbed tongues to lap up the ants.  Flickers eat more ants than any other bird species in North America.  Ants alone make up 45% of their diet.  NOTE:  During the revue of my movie clip that I took of this bird It was the unexpected and very surprising observation, of this long narrow tongue, darting out of its long bill, which instantly aroused my curiosity, to learn more about this bird!!  I am going to make a comparison here, reminded me of watching a chameleon darting its tongue out to catch prey!  At this moment, the Northern “Yellow-shafted” Flicker became a backup story for my Photo of the Week article!! 

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Last week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while flipping channels watching television I came across a program showing the live broadcast of the 2022 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  I immediately decided this would be my next Photo of the Week article!  This is a major, world famous event, which has some interesting connections right here in Allamuchy, Warren County.

The Westminster Kennel Club, established in 1877, is America’s oldest organization dedicated to the sport of dogs.  It hosts the iconic, all-breed Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the second-longest, continuously held sporting event in the U.S. and since 1948, the longest nationally televised live dog show.   If you are wondering, “What is the longest continuously held sporting event in the U.S.?”  Answer – The Kentucky Derby. 

During Westminster Week even the Empire State Building partakes in the celebration by lighting up in purple and yellow – which are the official colors of the Westminster Dog Show. The highlight of the show is the naming of the dog that wins Best in Show at Westminster!  This year the 146^th showing of the dog show, the winner was Trumpet the Bloodhound. **This is where I connect the dots from Westminster to Allamuchy. As of 2022, the most successful dog to win Best in Show at Westminster was a Smooth Fox Terrier named WARREN REMEDY.  She was the first winner of Best in Show AND the only dog to have won it on three occasions!  OK I’m all set to write up this article, just need to get up to Rutherfurd Hall and take a photo and check with my friend, Joan Salvas, Rutherfurd Hall Historian, and I should be all set.  Unfortunately, my back physically went out Wednesday, and a few other issues popped up, so I couldn’t get up to Rutherfurd Hall and that was when Plan B mentioned above became this week’s Photo of the Week.  I will leave you a hint on the connection to Allamuchy – Rutherfurd Hall  To get the rest of the story look for my next Photo of the Week article! 

We have been talking about dogs, now let’s get back on track, the following is for the birds, specifically, the Northern “Yellow-shafted” Flicker. 

FLICKERS – JUST THE FACTS!

Flickers are the only brown-backed woodpeckers in the East, and the only woodpeckers in North America that commonly feed on the ground, as mentioned above.  During courtship and to proclaim their territory, flickers hammer on dead limbs or tin roofs.  On the Great Plains, the “Yellow-shafted” and “Red-shafted” meet and interbreed. The northern flicker or common flicker is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family.  It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands.  It is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate.  There are over 100 common names for the northern flicker.

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES – North America has two easily distinguished races of Northern Flickers: the yellow-shafted form in the East, which occurs into Texas and the Great Plains, and the red-shafted form in the West.  The key difference is the color of the flight-feather shafts, which are either a lemon yellow or a rosy red.  Yellow-shafted forms have tan faces and gray crowns, and a red crescent on the nape.  Males have a black mustache stripe.  Red-shafted forms have a gay face, brown crown, and no nape crescent, with males showing a red mustache stripe.  Hybrids look intermediate and are common at the edges of these two groups ranges.

HABITAT – Look for flickers in open habitats near trees, including woodlands, edges, yards and parks.  In the West you can find them in mountain forests all the way up to the tree line.

BEHAVIOR – Northern Flickers spend lots of time on the ground and when in trees they’re often perched upright on horizontal branches instead of leaning against their tails on a trunk.  They fly in an up-and-down path using heavy flaps interspersed with glides, like many woodpeckers.

COLOR PATTERN – Flickers appear brownish with a white rump patch that’s conspicuous in flight and often visible when perched.  The undersides of the wing and tail feathers are bright yellow, for eastern birds, or red, in western birds.  A closer look you will see the brown plumage is richly patterned with black spots, bars, and crescents.

Please go to my Flickr site for the video showing the long tongue being projected out of the long bill – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72177720300080395

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Director Open Space

Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman

Allamuchy Historical Society – President