Back in December I was delighted to see what appeared to be a "pure" female yellow-shafted flicker ?visiting my feeders. Yesterday I was surprised to see a hybrid male: reddish shafts, red malar and red nape. (First and second images respectively here?- apologies for the poor quality). This morning I was really surprised when I caught a quick look at?yet another male hybrid: reddish shafts, black malar, no red nape (not 100% sure about the nape - I'm hoping he returns so I can get a better look & photos).
I lived in the same location and had the same feeder set-up last winter, but can't recall seeing any unusual fickers. Admittedly, the presence of the female Y-s this year has caused me to take a closer look at the flickers coming by so?the presence of that bird may have caused a kind of Gestalt effect.?Or has anyone else been seeing more-than-usual amounts of hybrids this winter?
Cheers,Liz Donelan
West Seattle, WAsterna_caspia at yahoo dot com