This one has the prominent golden underwing color, a distinctive red nape, whisker is distinctively black with just a sliver of red along one edge. He/she was on the feeder again today, I am getting really nice looks because the bird is 20' away and I am using 10x binoculars sitting comfortably on my couch. A bit nervous for the bird; I also had a sharp shinned hawk sitting on branches 15' from the feeder.

cev

On Mon, 16 Nov 2015, Paul Bannick wrote:

> Dear Charles, Connie and Tweeters,
> Intergrades are pretty common, especially during the winter when resident flickers are joined by migrants from the North. ?
>
> Generally the Red-shafted Northern Flickers live West of the Great Plains and Yellow-shafted live East.? There is though a long, narrow hybrid (or perhaps more
> accurately inter-grade) zone on the western great plans that crosses the Rockies of Canada and into southern Alaska.? During the winter we get lots of those Alaska
> birds that show a mix of traits.? Much like the the Red-breasted and Red-naped sapsuckers, hybrid birds can sometimes look convincingly like a pure bird of one
> subspecies but are normally mixed.
>
> I have noticed over time that more of these hybrids tend to stay in the Pacific Northwest and breed into the pool (as Connie pointed out) but these are usually the
> ones that look quite a bit more like the Red-shafted birds.
>
> If you would like to see some examples check out: ?
> http://paulbannick.photoshelter.com/search?I_DSC=intergrade&_ACT=search
> or
> http://paulbannick.photoshelter.com/image?&_bqG=0&_bqH=eJwL9Uj3KfYqSUwz9MvxrHIzCTMqMPC2yMtxNjaxMrMyNDAAYSDpGe8S7GybmVeSWpRelJiSquYZHxrsGhTv6WIbClJQ4WvomeuX7pgS5akW
> 7.gcYlucmliUnAEAZKsdKA--&GI_ID=
>
> I look forward to seeing my first winter intergrade flicker.
>
> Paul
>
> On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 3:10 PM, Connie Sidles <constancesidles at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
> 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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>
> --
> Paul L. Bannick
> Nature and Bird Photography
> www.paulbannick.com
> 206-940-7835
>
>