is this a woodpecker? or a "northern gilded flicker"?

[solarbird]

First, some pumpkins, then, largeish fuzzy pictures of a bird. I need a digital camera with more zoom. These are sharpened a bit in photoshop.


Every Halloween needs a skeery monster:



Meanwhile, have some good luck (same pumpkin, back side):



Now, the bird!

Comments

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I think that's a flicker - we get them at our house and they come *very* close to our bedroom windows so I was able to compare them to the book. :-)

GREAT pumpkin! :-)

[firni.livejournal.com]

Wish the pic was close enough to tell if it's male or female.

We also have some odd "hybrid" flickers at our house, cross between yelllow-shafted and red-shafted. So the male has the red-shafted red mustache, and the red slash across the back of the head of the yellow-shafted.

I just wish they'd quit getting on the roof right above my bed and going "THWAP THWAP". It's not even the amusing "jackhammer" sound they do during breeding season.

http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/NORFLI/

P.S.

[firni.livejournal.com]

The "Gilded Flicker" and the "Northern Flicker" are two different species. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Flicker_dtl.html

The Gilded Flicker likes to hang out down in the SE and build nests in cacti.

http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesSH.asp?curGroupID=1&shapeID=963&curPageNum=2&recnum=BD0522

I LOVE BIRDS

Re: P.S.

[solarbird]

Looking at the pictures, I think we've seen both males and females, all red-shafted. (I've seen more than one at once; I think I've seen three different birds. Not 100% sure.)

Re: P.S.

[firni.livejournal.com]

Invite me over sometime when I'm not in full psycho mode*, and I'll bring my camera, tripod, snacks, and we'll sit there and lurk... come to us, lovely flicker... come to us, my precious.

That reminds me, I need to crop and post some flicker pics of the little bugger in my icon and his buddies.

*full psycho mode means I can't STFU and pretty much drive everybody around me batshit insane. NON-full psycho mode means I sit there in front of the camera like a hawk waiting for that fat mousie dinner.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

Heeeeey. Now I know what the "what's this pretty bird in my backyard" mom was asking about is. I said "I think it's some sort of woodpecker or flicker or something." Woot.

[firni.livejournal.com]

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/audio/Northern_Flicker1.html

The call at the beginning is the one that always reminds me of a raptor. The one near the middle (KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE) sounds like what the doofus in my icon does in between pecking at my window, and the last one is the drumming sound they make during breeding season (usually on my rain gutters at 6am).