Greetings All

Upon close inspection, I have found that 20 to 30 percent of Northern
Flickers in w. Washington during winter show mixed characterstics of
Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted. These birds are very rare during summer.
Given that these two taxa are not separate species, I am not certain of the
proper terminology for such birds, whether it be hybrid, integrade, etc., but
I will call them integrades.

Integrades between YS and RS Flickers can show a variable mixture of marks.
Some look like RS with a bright red nape crescent. Some have the wrong
moustachial stripe or one that is mixed red and black. Some have an
in-between underwing color, while others might have the face of a RS and the
wings of a YS. Anyway, integrades between YS and RS Flickers are not rare in
w Washington, and they are highly variable in appearance. Furthermore, for
every "pure" YS Flicker I find, I find 10 that are integrades.

Cheers
Steven Mlodinow
SGMlod at aol.com
Everett WA
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20010215/aa0a4f1c/attachment.htm