I’ve seen Downey Woodpeckers, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and even big Pleated Woodpeckers, but until earlier this month I had never seen a Northern Flicker woodpecker.
I spotted this one at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in early March. I was trying to find some Scrub Jays, but instead this guy caught my eye.
He looks a little different from his woodpecker cousins – having a brown back with what some call black tiger stripes. And he acts a little different than other woodpeckers, too.
The Northern Flicker is the only member of the woodpecker family that will regularly feed on the ground, according to AllAboutBirds.org. “Flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. “
