This sounds like a Northern Flicker intergrade. As Dennis Rockwell noted,
the "Red-shafted" and "Yellow-shafted" subspecies often interbreed;
therefore, they are considered the same species. When they interbreed, the
combination of traits can be very interesting including birds with
yellow-shafts and a red mustache like your visitor. I have one of these in
my yard as well. Other combinations in Pullman have included one with
red-shafts and a black mustache, salmon and orange colored shafts and one
with a bicolor mustache, red on one side, black on the other.

Clearly, the large number of intergrades suggests these birds interbreed
frequently and are subspecies and not species. (But there are different
definitions of "species" so not everyone agrees). I didn't read the article
in Oct. 1997 Birding; sometimes the word hybrid refers to crosses between
subspecies as well as species but most people prefer to reserve it to
crosses between species.

When the Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted Flickers were merged into the
Northern Flicker, the Gilded Flicker was also included in Northern Flicker.
However, recent studies suggest the Gilded Flicker doesn't breed with the
Northern Flicker so it was separated out again a few years ago and is
considered a separate species. It rarely (if ever) ventures out of the
desert southwest and any bird with yellow-shafts and red mustache is usually
considered a Northern Flicker.

Hope that helps.
Deb

Deb Beutler
Dept. of Zoology
Washington State University
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA

dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Ross C. <rosseli at earthlink.net>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 11:17 AM
Subject: Northern Flicker (fwd)


>
>
>Tweeters,
>
>I am a backyard birder mostly. For the past 2 weeks I have had a Northern
>Flicker coming to my seed feeders. I thought at first it was a "Red
>Shafted" due to its red mustache. But when it jumped from the ground to
the
>feeder, it displayed yellow tail and wing linings. I have watched him
>several times with binoculars and I have seen very clearly the red mustache
>under the eyes, not on the nape, and the bright yellow, not orange or
>salmon, wing and tail linings. Could it be some kind of hybrid? The
>Gilded Flicker only lives in the SW desert area I thought. Please feel
free
>to set me straight. Also saw a mature bald eagle fly past my porch
>yesterday. First time for that at this address.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Ross Cottrell
>Suquamish, WA
>rosseli at earthlink.net
>
>
>
>>
>