Did "he" have the red nape and a black "moustache"? I've seen several
intergrades with those marks, but not with the yellow. How exciting!


>From: Bob Mauritsen <Bluetooth at csi.com>
>Reply-To: Bluetooth at csi.com
>To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Yellow-shafted at my feeder
>Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 11:19:28 -0800
>
>Tweeters,
>
>Well, darned if I didn't have a visit from a beautiful YELLOW-SHAFTED
>FLICKER this morning. It came down amidst a small cloud of starlings to
>my feeder and I happened to notice that the dark profile of one
>"starling" was too big and had way too long a beak. I checked the tree
>when they flew away, and it was a flicker.
>
>So grabbed the binocs and checked it out for 5 seconds before it flew
>away, and darned if it didn't have the brightest, MOST INTENSE YELLOW
>FEATHERS pushed out along it's tail. I had no idea that the "yellow"
>in "yellow-shafted" meant bright, almost banana-colored feathers, but
>brighter. Maybe more like a summer male goldfinch. I always thought
>that you had to see the underside of the tail while the bird was in
>flight. I didn't know that you could actually see bright yellow
>feathers while the bird was perched. Granted, the feathers were not in
>position. In any case, it looked a bit strange. Hope he comes around
>again.
>
>Bob Mauritsen
>Green Lake, Seattle


Wes Jansen
Fine Feathered Friends
603 Morris St
PO Box 875
LaConner, WA 98257
(360)466-5002
www.finefeatheredfriends.com

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