Just a quick note is response to the cross-post from Tweeters about
Flicker hybrids. The Gilded Flicker of the Desert Southwest resembles a
hybrid (or intergrade) in that it appears superficially to have the head
of a Red-shafted Flicker and the body of a Yellow-shafted Flicker. In
fact, as portions of the cross-post suggest, the red nape of the
Yellow-shafted birds appears to be dominant. I have never seen a
specimen of a hybrid which resembles a true "Gilded" Flicker. All such
hybrids seem to show a red nape patch (both sexes) which the Gilded
Flicker lacks.

There are other minor differences such as size, width of black on the
tail, shape of spots on the flanks, etc, but claims of Gilded Flickers
from the Northwest can usually be put to rest by checking for the red
nape marking.

Has anyone ever documented a specimen with yellow wing linings that
lacked a red nape mark?

Joe Morlan
Albany, CA

================

From: "Jeff Price, NBS" <pricej at MAIL.FWS.GOV>

The Gilded Flicker is distinctive genetically as well as in plumage,
clutch size, and, probably, physiology. In all probability the
Gilded Flicker will be restored to full species status soon (I don't
think in the 7th AOU, but in the first supplement after that?). The
Red/Yellow-shafted Flicker and the Baltimore/Bullock's Oriole may
represent a different sort of hybrid zone. This is an area where the
hybrids may be better able to survive the climatic extremes than either
parental form. Some recently completed work suggests that the hybrid
zones may retain the same width but shift along with shifts in species
distributions under global climate change models.

See:

Moore, W.S. and J.T. Price. 1993. Nature of selection in the Northern
Flicker hybrid zone and its implications for speciation theory. Pp.
196-225 in R.G. Harrison, ed. Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Moore, W.S., J.H. Graham, and J.T. Price. 1991. Mitochondrial DNA
variation in the Northern FLicker. Molecular Biology and Evolution
8(3):327-344.

Jeff Price Internet: PriceJ at MAIL.FWS.GOV
National Biological Survey
Northern Prairie Science Center Phone: 701-252-5363
8711 37th Street Southeast Fax: 701-252-4217
Jamestown, ND 58401

===================

From: Steve Hampton <hampton at GORDY.UCDAVIS.EDU>

I'll just add another note on hybrid flickers, which we
have plenty of every winter here in Davis, CA. My experience is
that the head patterns of the hybrids are most often somewhat
messy, in that the nape and crown often spill over into the face,
forming a kind of helmet.

For example, yesterday we saw a red-shafted bird, with
a yellow-shafted head pattern (black mustache, salmon face, and
gray nape and crown, but NO nape slash). The gray of the nape and
crown wrapped around the nape and halfway across the side of the
face, so that the salmon was really restricted to around the eyes,
cheek patch, and throat. I find this "helmet effect" often among
hybrids.

This should help distinguish hybrids from Gildeds in
the southwest, where the gray obeys the rules, beginning at the
nape and curving up to the crown in a tall almost-triangle shape.

good birding,
____________________________________________________
STEVE HAMPTON [hampton at gordy.ucdavis.edu]
Dept. of Agricultural Economics
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616 USA
____________________________________________________