I have the great pleasure of having an office in my house that looks out
onto a heavily wooded street her in north Seattle. When my nose is not
buried in my computer, I'm able to watch, quite closely, a large number of
local natives, including among others, local crows, LBJ's of all varieties,
larger perching birds, a sharp-shinned hawk, and one lonely male barn
swallow, who serenaded me most of the summer from his perch just outside my
office window.

I look out my window this moment to see no less than 5, possibly 6 Red
Shafted(?) Flickers, bouncing around my horse chesnut & neighboring pine.
They are engaging in some sort of display - head bobbing, a regular piping
accompanying the bobs, and fanned displays of their tail feathers. Without
knowing any better, I'd say it was a courtship display. As I recall, they
do winter over here. Do they nest in fall as well?

Rgds,

Jeff Allen