Dear Charles, Many years ago, a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker set up nesting at Montlake Fill, in a hole near the golf driving range. He got his genes into the pool by pairing up with a local resident. Ever since then, we get flickers with yellow-shafted traits. Some descendants look purely yellow-shafted. More commonly, the descendants show more hybrid traits: they might have a red crescent on the nape, for example, but a red whisker instead of a black one. Or they might have one reddish whisker and one more blackish. It's always a delight to see these guys. When I see one that looks purely yellow, I wonder if it is another newcomer from the east, or just one of our local guys who may have hooked up with one of the descendant yellowish-shafted girls. It's fun to listen to the flickers' calls and note that some do sound different. Now that Barred Owls have so successfully crossed the Great Plains, I wonder if more eastern woodpeckers will also, not to mention other easterners. I live for the day when I see my first Northern Cardinal at the Fil - I only hope my blood pressure will withstand the shockl. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com <mailto:constancesidles at gmail.com>
www.constancypress.com


> On Nov 16, 2015, at 11:00 AM, CHARLES E. VAUGHAN <cvaughan at u.washington.edu> wrote:
>
> Yesterday I had a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker hitting the suet on my backyard feeder. First time I have ever seen this variant in Seattle. Any other sightings?
>
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