NORTHERN FLICKER

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

Permanent resident.

A fairly common species statewide in Ohio inhabiting a variety of wooded and semi-wooded habitats including parks, residential areas, and wooded stream corridors.

It avoids the interiors of the larger woodlands more than the other resident woodpeckers in the state. Flickers are a characteristic species of wooded edge habitats and riparian corridors where they are found nesting in the cavities of dead trees and snags.

Competition for nest sites with the European starling have resulted in a noticeable decrease in the numbers of flickers in Ohio during the past 30 years.