Nest Building Flicker

Images

Below is a sequence of pictures of a Northern Flicker cleaning out the chips it has been excavating from the nest it is building in a dead tree. A muffled pecking sound can be heard for several minutes while it’s working and before it emerges to tidy up.

Three weeks after the pictures above were taken, the male and female were spotted at the nest together (the male has the moustache). Here she is a bit out of focus as she flies away.

Eight weeks have passed since the initial photos were captured and there are at least two chicks in the nest.

 
Here is some slow-motion video of the female defending the nest from a squirrel.

The female feeding the chicks:

Discussion

The Northern Flicker

There are two sub-species of the Northern Flicker, the Yellow-Shafted shown here, and the Red-Shafted. They are wonderfully entertaining birds with extravagant but lovely markings, a variety of interesting calls, and unusual courtship displays.

Before this bird’s nest was discovered, the muted sound of a woodpecker was obvious in the vicinity, but with no sign of the bird. Now we know that the work was being done indoors!

Detailed information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology about this bird can be found here.

Exposure Data (typ)

Camera: Nikon D850
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
Focal Length: 500mm
ISO: 1400
Shutter Speed: 1/4000 sec.
Aperture: f/8
File Format: RAW