BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Colaptes auratus
Northern Flicker
| Scientific Name: | Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Northern Flicker | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-NOFL | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | See Kaufman (1991, Am. Birds 45:1171-1175) for detailed information on identification of flickers. | ||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Incubation by both sexes, lasts 11-12 days. Nestlings are altricial. Young are tended by both adults; leave nest 25-28 days after hatching. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Cavities excavated by flickers are used by many species of secondary cavity users. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Breeding populations north of southern Canada generally move south for winter. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Unknown
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Unknown Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Unknown Anthropogenic / Urban/Suburban / Unknown Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Unknown Forest / Conifer Forest - Mesic (average) / Unknown Forest / Conifer Forest - Moist/wet / Unknown Forest / Deciduous/Broadleaf Forest / Unknown Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Unknown Riparian / Riparian Forest / Unknown |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Open forest, both deciduous and coniferous, open woodland, open situations with scattered trees and snags, riparian woodland, pine-oak association, parks (AOU 1983). Nests in dead tree trunk, or stump, or dead top of live tree; sometimes nests in wooden pole, building or earth bank. Digs a nest hole cavity or reuses old one. Holes usually 2.5-7.5 m above ground (Harrison 1978). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Feeds on insects (ants, beetles, wasps, grasshoppers, grubs, etc). Feeds on the ground or catches insects in the air. Also eats fruits, berries, and seeds (clovers, grasses, ragweed, etc.) (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 32/ / 142 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDS: from tree limit in central Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, northern Manitoba, James Bay, central Quebec, southern Labrador, and Newfoundland, south to Baja California, southern Texas, Gulf coast, sounthern Florida, Nicaragua, Cuba and Grand Cayman. WINTERS: southern Canada south (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 01, 1996 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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California Department of Fish and Game (CDF&G). 1990. 1989 annual report on the status of California's state listed threatened and endangered plants and animals. 188 pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. |
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Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp. |
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Fletcher, S. D., and W. S. Moore. 1992. Further analysis of allozyme variation in the northern flicker, in comparison with mitochondrial DNA variation. Condor 94:988-991. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Ingold, D. J. 1994. Influence of nest-site competition between European starlings and woodpeckers. Wilson Bull. 106:227-241. |
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Kerpez, T. A., and N. S. Smith. 1990a. Competition between European starlings and native woodpeckers for nest cavities in saguaros. Auk 107:367-375. |
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Kerpez, T. A., and N. S. Smith. 1990b. Nest-site selection and nest-cavity characteristics of Gila woodpeckers and northern flickers. Condor 92:193-198. |
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Kilham, L. 1983. Life history studies of woodpeckers of eastern North America. Nuttall Ornithol. Club Pub. No. 20. vii + 240 pp. |
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Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp. |
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Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. |
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Short, L. L. 1982. Woodpeckers of the World. Museum of Natural History [Greenville, Delaware], Monograph Series xviii + 676 pp. |
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Sibley, C.G., and B.L. Monroe, Jr. 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. xxiv + 1111 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Colaptes auratus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).