Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker perched in a tree without leaves.
Northern Flicker, Fort Worth Nature Preserve Cross Timbers Trail footbridge, Fort Worth, TX, December 24, 2021
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-640; f/6.3; 1/2000 sec.

This page is for the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). This species is quite a distinctive looking bird. The December 11, 2021 photo is my first photographic evidence of this bird. The best best photograph I have taken of the Northern Flicker to date (above) was on December 24, 2021, at the Fort Worth Nature Preserve, Fort Worth, TX. I really like the mix of patterns and colors on this bird. I enjoy it every time I see one in the wild.

The following photographs are the best representative images from different dates and locations than my species representative example.

Northern Flicker perched in a tree without leaves.
Northern Flicker, Wildwood Park, Fort Worth, TX, December 11,2021
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-1000; f/6.3; 1/2000 sec.
Northern Flicker perched near the top of a tree without leaves.
Northern Flicker, Cleburne State Park, Cleburne, TX, December 28, 2021
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-320; f/6.3; 1/1000 sec.
Northern Flicker perched in a tree without leaves. There are many additional branches and some spherical seed pods.
Northern Flicker, Fort Worth Nature Preserve River Road, Fort Worth, TX, January 2, 2022
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-500; f/6.3; 1/2500 sec.
Northern Flickers perched in a tree among other branches.
Northern Flicker, Fort Worth Nature Preserve Cross Timbers Trail footbridge, Fort Worth, TX January 15, 2022
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-500; f/6.3; 1/2500 sec.
Northern Flicker perched in a tree without leaves.
Northern Flicker, Fort Worth Nature Preserve Cross Timbers Trail head, Fort Worth, TX, February 12, 2022
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-800; f/6.3; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker perched in a tree without leaves.
Northern Flicker, Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill, TX, March 6, 2022
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-640; f/7.1; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker perched in a tree without leaves.
Northern Flicker, Colleyville Nature Center, Colleyville, TX, March 12, 2022
Canon EOS 5DS R with Tamron 150-600 mm lens; 600 mm; ISO-500; f/6.3; 1/1000 sec.
Northern Flicker perched on a barren branch near the top of a tree. There as some green leaves below.
Northern Flicker, North Holiday Park, Benbrook, TX, October 15, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-400; f/10; 1/1250 sec.
Northern Flicker flying to a tree.
Northern Flicker, Black Mesa State Park, Kenton, Ok, October 19, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-250; f/10; 1/1000 sec.
Northern Flicker perched on a branch near the tree trunk.
Northern Flicker, Black Mesa State Park, Kenton, Ok, October 20, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-1250; f/11; 1/1250 sec.
Northern Flicker on a vertical tree branch.
Northern Flicker, Black Mesa State Park, Kenton, Ok, October 21, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-400; f/10; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker with its feathers all puffed-out while perched on a small, dead tree branch.
Northern Flicker, Black Mesa State Park, Kenton, Ok, October 21, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-400; f/10; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker perched on the side of a dead tree.
Northern Flicker, Bitter Lake NWR, Roswell, NM, November 9, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-250; f/10; 1/400 sec. +0.3 exposure bias.
Red-shafted Northern Flicker flying nearby.
Northern Flicker, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM, November 10, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-125; f/10; 1/500 sec.
Northern Flicker perched on a dead tree branch.
Northern Flicker, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM, November 10, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-100; f/10; 1/320 sec.
Red-shafted Northern Flicker taking off from its perch among small branches.
Northern Flicker, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM, November 10, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-160; f/10; 1/500 sec.
Norther Flicker perched in a tree on a cloudy day.
Northern Flicker, Colleyville Nature Center, Colleyville, TX, December 11, 2022
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-2000; f/10; 1/1000 sec.
Northern Flicker on the side of a tree branch in the shade.
Northern Flicker, Mustang Park, Benbrook, TX, February 11, 2023
EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-400; f/11; 1/640 sec. -0.7 exposure bias
Northern Flicker perched on a medium-sized limb and is licking the frost on the limb.
Northern Flicker, Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX, December 26, 2023
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-640; f/10; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker on the side of a tree near an old limb cavity.
Northern Flicker, Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX, December 26, 2023
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-500; f/10; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker perched on an old handrail next to grasses on the sand dunes.
Northern Flicker, Parker River NWR, Plum Island, MA, January 11, 2024
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-800; f/10; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker, Oak Point Park, Plano, TX, January 21, 2024
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x Teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-500; f/10; 1/800 sec.
Northern Flicker partly hiding in some ground cover plants.
Northern Flicker, Central Park, New York City, NY, August 31, 2024
Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500 mm L-series lens with 1.4x teleconverter; 700 mm; ISO-12,800; f/11; 1/800 sec.