Monday, November 14, 2011

Red-shafted Northern Flicker

The northern flicker is a member of the woodpecker family that is found in North and Central America. The northern flicker has two subspecies that were once considered separate species. The red-shafted subspecies, Colaptes auratus cafer, is found in the western portions of North America. As its name suggests the feather shafts of the primary feathers are red. The red under the tail and the red moustache markings also help to distinguish it from the yellow-shafted subspecies, which is found in the eastern portion of North America. I photographed this red-shafted flicker in the Bosque del Apache NWR on our recent trip to New Mexico.

3 comments:

Ida said...

Wonderful photo of this woodpecker. Love the red color on it's feathers.

Maria @ LSS said...

Beautiful capture of the stunning woodpecker.

Happy RT!

Cheryl said...

Just scrolled through the last few posts (visiting from CC) & all I can say is "WOW!" I just love these shots all to pieces.