THE
FLICKER.
| A GREAT variety of
names does this bird possess. It is commonly known as the
Golden Winged Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Yellow
Hammer, and less often as High-hole or High-holer,
Wake-up, etc. Suitable localities throughout the United
States and the southern parts of Canada, the Flicker is a
very common bird, and few species are more generally
known. "It is one of the most sociable of our
Woodpeckers, and is apparently always on good terms with
its neighbors. It usually arrives in April, occasionally
even in March, the males preceding the females a few
days, and as soon as the latter appear one can hear their
voices in all directions." The Flicker is, an ardent wooer. It is an exceedingly interesting and amusing sight to see a couple of males paying their addresses to a coy and coquettish female; the apparent shyness of the suitors as they sidle up to her and as quickly retreat again, the shy glances given as one peeps from behind a limb watching the other playing bo-peep — seem very human, and "I have seen," says all observer, "few more amusing performances than the courtship of a pair of these birds." The defeated suitor takes his rejection quite philosophically, and retreats in a dignified manner, probably to make other trials elsewhere. Few birds deserve our good will more than the Flicker. He is exceedingly useful, destroying multitudes of grubs, larvae, and worms. He loves berries and fruit but the damage he does to cultivated fruit is very trifling. The Flicker begins to build its nest about two weeks after the bird arrives from the south. It prefers open country, interspersed with groves and orchards, to nest in. Any old stump, or partly decayed limb of a tree, along the banks of a creek, beside a country road, or in an old orchard, will answer the purpose. Soft wood trees seem to be preferred, however. In the prairie states it occasionally selects strange nesting sites. |
It has been known to chisel through
the weather boarding of a dwelling house, barns, and
other buildings, and to nest in the hollow space between
this and the cross beams; its nests have also been found
in gate posts, in church towers, and in burrows of
Kingfishers and bank swallows, in perpendicular banks of
streams. One of the most peculiar sites of his selection
is described by William A. Bryant as follows: "On a
small hill, a quarter of a mile distant from any home,
stood a hay stack which had been placed there two years
previously. The owner, during the winter of 1899-90, had
cut the stack through the middle and hauled away one
portion, leaving the other standing, with the end
smoothly trimmed. The following spring I noticed a pair
of flickers about the stack showing signs of wanting to
make it a fixed habitation. One morning a few days later
I was amused at the efforts of one of the pair. It was
clinging to the perpendicular end of the stack and
throwing out clipped hay at a rate to defy competition.
This work continued for a week, and in that time the pair
had excavated a cavity twenty inches in depth. They
remained in the vicinity until autumn. During the winter
the remainder of the stack was removed. They returned the
following spring, and, after a brief sojourn, departed
for parts unknown." From five to nine eggs are generally laid. They are glossy white in color, and when fresh appear as if enameled. The young are able to leave the nest in about sixteen days; they crawl about on the limbs of the tree for a couple of days before they venture to fly, and return to the nest at night. |