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Flicker Attack

Yikes! What's that bird doing, pounding on my house?
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Northern Flicker nestbox on house
© Darin Ziegler

In early spring, a male flicker may drum on a metal stovepipe or other resonant surface to attract a mate and proclaim his territory. This doesn't damage your house. If your flicker is drilling for food, you'd better check for carpenter ants or other insects! A flicker may also be excavating a nest cavity. If so, you can put up a nestbox nearby. The pair that adopts it will keep other flickers away. If it's late spring or summer and you discover a big hole, there's probably a brood inside, and it's illegal to disturb them.

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BirdNote®
Flicker Attack
Adapted from a script by Chris Peterson
 
This is BirdNote!

[Loud and brisk sound of a Northern Flicker drumming on a house]
 
Ah, the Northern Flicker, a bird with a gorgeous Latin name Colaptes auratus – the “golden chiseler.” [Repeat Flicker drumming]
 
In early spring, a male flicker may drum on a metal stovepipe or other resonant surface to attract a mate and proclaim his territory. [Flicker drumming on pipe] 
While this sound can be annoying, it doesn’t damage your house. Your flicker could be drilling for food — a signal that you, too, should be checking to find the source of those carpenter ants or other insects. [Flicker drilling]
 
In spring, a flicker may also be excavating a nest cavity. Fewer and fewer dead trees mean the birds are looking for alternate sites. If a flicker has started to chisel a cavity, you can put up a nest box nearby. The pair that adopts it will also keep other flickers away. [Aggressive flicker repeated-note call -- the male "spring song."]
If it’s late spring or summer and you discover a big hole, there’s likely a brood inside, and it’s illegal to disturb them. 

Find a list of reliable ways to scare away flickers if they’re bothering your house. Visit our website, birdnote.org. [Calls of the Northern Flicker]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
 
                                                                            ###
 
Calls and drumming of the Northern Flicker provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.  Drumming on wood recorded by D.S. Herr; territorial call recorded by V.W. Ward.
BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and produced by John Kessler.
Drumming on metal pipe recorded by C. Peterson 
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black
© 2010 Tune In to Nature.org       BirdNote March 2015/2021
Narrator: Michael Stein
 
ID# NOFL-03-2010-03-07          NOFL-03   
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/northernflickers.htm
Chris Peterson
Writer
Michael Stein
Narrator
Darin Ziegler
Photographer
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Tagsnesting woodpecker

Related Resources

Find out how to live with flickers, without conflicts.More about the Northern Flicker at AllAboutBirds

More About These Birds

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

Colaptes auratus

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