Leukering photo essay on hybrid/intergrade flickers

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, Everybody.

First, from the vantage point of my soapbox, I hereby opine that hybrid (or, if you prefer, "intergrade") Northern Flickers are grossly underreported on eBird checklists from Colorado, especially east of the mountains. What to do about it? An excellent starting point is Tony Leukering's informative and readable (and mercifully short!) article in the April 2018 issue of Birding magazine:

http://birdingmagazine.aba.org/i/971223-apr-2018/36

ABA member account required for full access. Email me if you want a PDF, but I might not respond till after the CFO convention.

F1 (first-generation) adult male flicker hybrids are instantly and easily designated as such. The problem is with females and backcrosses. For example, birds like this one:

That patch of red on the nape is pretty small. But it is there! I believe this is a backcross. The birds' wings--definitely not yellow-shafted, but not really red-shafted, either--also indicate mixed ancestry:

My strategy for flicker ID:

1. Try to see the bird well. If you can't, just call it a Northern Flicker.

2. If you see the bird well and can't really make up your mind, just call it a Northern Flicker.

3. If you do see evidence of hybrid/intergrade origin, enter the bird as a Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted Flicker.

4. Only if you see the bird well enough to rule out hybrid/intergrade origin (calling all Philosophy 101 students!), then call it Red-shafted Flicker or Yellow-shafted Flicker; otherwise, call it a Northern Flicker.

A confession. I've been way too glib in my designations of Colorado flickers as either Red-shafted or Yellow-shafted. It's never too late for a New Year's Resolution, so I hereby resolve to be more careful with Colorado flickers.

By the way, I ought to note that the bird depicted above was at the Wyoming Hereford Ranch, Laramie County, Wyoming, back on Tues. morning, May 15. It's my favorite birding hotspot in Colorado, haha. I went there with Andrew Floyd, and we saw 2 Blackpoll Warblers, 1 Northern Parula, 1 American Redstart, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 1 Least Flycatcher, 3 Gray Flycatchers, 1 Veery, and 1 Bobolink. eBird checklist:

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45710859

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County