A very dark, almost black flicker has been visiting the suet feeder in my
backyard. It appeared for the first time yesterday and was back again this
morning (1/12)
With the exception of a dirty white patch at the base of the tail which shows
in flight and the reddish color of the underside of the tail feathers, the
markings are all in shades of sooty gray-black and dark sooty brown. The bird
hasn't shown me the underside of the wings to see if there is any color. In
the absence of any hint of a stripe either black or red on the malar, I presume
the bird is a female. The bird has the general appearance of having gotten
into a stove pipe and the soot hasn't washed off.
Garet Munger
Phinney Ridge