To describe my lifelong fascination with flight and with creatures that fly I like to echo the words of John James Audubon who in 1839 wrote of himself as "...one who never can cease to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Red/Yellow-shafted Flicker cross
This photo was taken by the wife of a cousin of mine just down the road a few miles from here. It reminds me that a large part of the fun of watching Northern Flickers now (since the Red-shafted and the Yellow-shafted were "demoted" to sub-species status a few years ago) is trying to see if one individual might show marks of both types. In other words, does a particular bird show evidence of eastern "Yellow-shafted" genes finding their way into the western "Red-shafted" population? The bird in Sharon's front yard obviously has some of both. The colored feather shafts are not visible, but the red whisker mark on the side of the face would be black on the "Yellow-shafted" and the red mark on the nape would not appear on a pure "Red-shafted." So, there you have it. A "cross-breed" Flicker. Thanks for the photo, Sharon.
Haven't got a picture yet, but we have a yellow/red cross showing up at our suet feeders the last few days (1/2013). The wing shafts are not really yellow, but less red than the true red ones, the mustache marks are red-black, and the red crescent at the nape is unmistakable. Ferndale, WA
This photo was taken by the wife of a cousin of mine just down the road a few miles from here. It reminds me that a large part of the fun of watching Northern Flickers now (since the Red-shafted and the Yellow-shafted were "demoted" to sub-species status a few years ago) is trying to see if one individual might show marks of both types. In other words, does a particular bird show evidence of eastern "Yellow-shafted" genes finding their way into the western "Red-shafted" population? The bird in Sharon's front yard obviously has some of both. The colored feather shafts are not visible, but the red whisker mark on the side of the face would be black on the "Yellow-shafted" and the red mark on the nape would not appear on a pure "Red-shafted." So, there you have it. A "cross-breed" Flicker. Thanks for the photo, Sharon.
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Haven't got a picture yet, but we have a yellow/red cross showing up at our suet feeders the last few days (1/2013). The wing shafts are not really yellow, but less red than the true red ones, the mustache marks are red-black, and the red crescent at the nape is unmistakable. Ferndale, WA
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