Diet and Foraging

Unlike most other woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker feeds mostly on the ground where it laps up insects, primarily ants, with its long, barbed tongue. It also consumes fruits and seeds, especially during winter months.

Microhabitat for Foraging

Forages primarily on the ground, probing the soil surface, especially at anthills and subterranean ant colonies. Ground cover that facilitates access to ants (bare ground, short grass) is favored, whereas tall grass and thick layers of grassy thatch are avoided (155 Elchuk, C. L., and K. L. Wiebe (2003). Home-range size of northern flickers (Colaptes auratus) in relation to habitat and parental attributes. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81(6):954–961. Close ). It tends to forage near forest edges or near small clumps of trees, probably to provide escape cover from predators (156 Elchuk, C. L., and K. L. Wiebe (2002). Food and predation risk as factors related to foraging locations of Northern Flickers. Wilson Bulletin 114(3):349–357. Close ). It rarely forages on trunks and branches of trees (131 Brackbill, H. (1957). Observations on a wintering flicker. Bird-Banding 28:40–41. Close , 157 Elchuk, C. L. (2001). Home range, territoriality and foraging site selection of the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). MSc. Thesis, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Close ), although this behavior becomes more common in winter when feeding on berries or fruits of trees. The Cuban subspecies (chrysocaulosus) is reported to be more arboreal in foraging habits than other subspecies (65 Short, L. L. (1965). Variation in West Indian Flickers (Aves, Colaptes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences 10(1):1–42. Close ). Likewise, on Grand Cayman Island subspecies gundlachi is reported to forage primarily in the decaying branches of trees where most ant colonies seem to be found (158 Cruz, A., and D. W. Johnston (1979). Occurrence and feeding ecology of the Common Flicker on Grand Cayman Island. Condor 81(4):370–375. Close ).

The Northern Flicker adjusts its foraging microhabitat relative to the ambient temperature which affects the surface abundance of ants. On cold days, the open grassland surface warms more rapidly than the forest and Northern Flickers at Riske Creek preferred to forage in the open grasslands, but on hot days or hot afternoons when ants move underground to avoid desiccation, individuals switched to foraging under the canopy of the open forest where ants were more abundant (159 Wiebe, K. L., and E. A. Gow (2013). Choice of foraging habitat by northern flickers reflects changes in availability of their ant prey linked to ambient temperature. Ecoscience 20:122–130. Close ).

Food Capture and Consumption

Forages during daylight hours for ants and other insects by probing and hammering in the soil with their powerful bills. On rangelands, they may use their bills to break apart dried cow dung which harbors colonies of ants or beetles (157 Elchuk, C. L. (2001). Home range, territoriality and foraging site selection of the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). MSc. Thesis, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Close ). The Northern Flickerwas a very efficient predator of larval tiger beetles in their subterranean burrows (160 Meyer, E. J. M. (1981). The capture efficiency of flickers preying on larval tiger beetles. Auk 98(1):189–191. Close ). Flickers have a remarkable protrusile tongue, derived by great elongation of the basihyal and part of the hyoid horns, that is characteristic of woodpeckers. Its sticky tongue darts out as much as 4 cm beyond the bill tip as it laps up adult and larval ants (133 Kilham, L. (1983). Life history studies of woodpeckers of eastern North America. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 20, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ). Based on 156 time budgets collected from 39 females and 38 males feeding nestlings in central British Columbia, females spent 50% of their time and males 45% foraging overall (161 Wiebe, K. L., and C. L. Elchuk (2003). Correlates of parental care in Northern Flickers Colaptes auratus: Do the sexes contribute equally while provisioning young? Ardea 91(1):91–101. Close ). However, time spent foraging declined in cold weather (< 10º C) when ants were less active and was positively correlated with nestling age. At the latitude of Riske Creek, British Columbia, most foraging occurred between 7:00–19:00 h (161 Wiebe, K. L., and C. L. Elchuk (2003). Correlates of parental care in Northern Flickers Colaptes auratus: Do the sexes contribute equally while provisioning young? Ardea 91(1):91–101. Close ).

Capture techniques may depend on the size and aggressiveness of the ant species. At Riske Creek, Northern Flickers avoided large thatch mounds of aggressive formica ants although sometimes they picked off individual ants traveling to and from the mounds (155 Elchuk, C. L., and K. L. Wiebe (2003). Home-range size of northern flickers (Colaptes auratus) in relation to habitat and parental attributes. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81(6):954–961. Close ). Instead, birds hopped on the ground, covering a substantial area while catching individual ants from smaller species or probing for short periods for small ant colonies under stones. At other locales, may more regularly visit specific ant colonies and probe for a considerable time, catching both adults and larvae. The anterior of the esophagus is extensible to form a crop approximately 1 × 6 cm, which is used to carry food to hatchlings. Depending on breeding densities, theNorthern Flicker may forage singly or in small groups, with conspecifics, or with other ground-foraging species such as European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) or American Robin (Turdus migratorius) (156 Elchuk, C. L., and K. L. Wiebe (2002). Food and predation risk as factors related to foraging locations of Northern Flickers. Wilson Bulletin 114(3):349–357. Close ). Group foraging may also occur in winter (a pair to as many as 12 birds) feeding on a crop of preferred fruit (133 Kilham, L. (1983). Life history studies of woodpeckers of eastern North America. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 20, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ).

On grasslands in central British Columbia where the Northern Flicker focused mainly on the smaller and scattered ant colonies, individuals did not repeatedly visit the same foraging location, probably to avoid a depleted food patch (162 Gow, E. A., and K. L. Wiebe (2014). Northern flicker mates foraging on renewing patches avoid competition not by separate niches but by segregation. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 69:101–108. Close ). Furthermore, members of a breeding pair foraged farther from each other than expected by chance, with males foraging closer to the nest than females, probably so they would not compete with each other for food on the home range (162 Gow, E. A., and K. L. Wiebe (2014). Northern flicker mates foraging on renewing patches avoid competition not by separate niches but by segregation. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 69:101–108. Close ).

Major Food Items

Especially during the breeding season, ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) usually comprise the majority of the diet, but other ground-dwelling insects or larvae such as beetles (Carabidae) are also important (163 Beal, F. E. L. (1911). Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 37. Close ). In late fall and winter, fruits supplement the diet (October–February; 163 Beal, F. E. L. (1911). Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 37. Close ). Ant genera reported by Beal (163 Beal, F. E. L. (1911). Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 37. Close ), Elchuk and Wiebe (156 Elchuk, C. L., and K. L. Wiebe (2002). Food and predation risk as factors related to foraging locations of Northern Flickers. Wilson Bulletin 114(3):349–357. Close ), and Gow et al. (164 Gow, E. A., K. L. Wiebe, and R. J. Higgins (2013). Lack of diet segregation during breeding by male and female Northern Flickers foraging on ants. Journal of Field Ornithology 84:262–269. Close ) include: Aphaenogaster, Camponotus, Cremastogaster, Formica, Lasius, Messor, Myrmica, Pheidole, Phrenolepis, Solenopsis, Tapinoma, and Tetramorium. Smaller percentages of diet were composed of Hemiptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Isoptera, Crustacea, and Mollusca. May forage extensively on crop pests in winter such as corn borer (Diatraea grandiosella) and limit their populations (165 Baskauf, S. J. (2003). Factors influencing population dynamics of the southwestern corn borer (Lepidoptera : Crambidae): A reassessment. Environmental Entomology 32(5):915–928. Close ). Ten seeds and fruits most frequently recorded by Beal (163 Beal, F. E. L. (1911). Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 37. Close ) based on stomach contents were (numbers refer to frequency in 684 sampled stomach contents): poison ivy (Rhus radicans, 82), bayberry (Myrica carolinensis, 48), sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica, 32), black cherry (Prunus serotina, 30), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis, 24), frost grape (Vitis cordifolia, 22), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida, 16), blackberry and raspberry (Rubus spp., 15), smooth sumac (Rhus glabra, 11), and sumac (Rhus sp., 11). Additional food plants in the West included pigweed (Amaranthus sp.), purslane (Portulaca sp.), gooseberry (Ribes menziesi), bur clover (Medicago denticulatum), filaree (Erodium cicutarium), poison oak (Rhus diversiloba), pepper berry (Schinus molle), woodbine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), elderberry (Sambucus nigra), sunflower (Helianthus sp.), and thistle (Centaurea spp.) (see 163 Beal, F. E. L. (1911). Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 37. Close ). Diets of breeding males and females did not differ (164 Gow, E. A., K. L. Wiebe, and R. J. Higgins (2013). Lack of diet segregation during breeding by male and female Northern Flickers foraging on ants. Journal of Field Ornithology 84:262–269. Close ).

Quantitative Analysis

Beal (163 Beal, F. E. L. (1911). Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 37. Close ) provided a detailed quantitative analysis based on stomach contents which is summarized in Table 4. Unfortunately, Beal did not state whether percentages of stomach contents represent biomass or counts of individual prey items nor did he give a complete breakdown of collecting locales and dates. Based on hard chitinous fragments in fecal samples of breeding adults at Riske Creek, British Columbia, about 98% of the diet (based on frequency of items) were ants of several genera (164 Gow, E. A., K. L. Wiebe, and R. J. Higgins (2013). Lack of diet segregation during breeding by male and female Northern Flickers foraging on ants. Journal of Field Ornithology 84:262–269. Close ). Animal matter, mainly ants, termites and beetles, formed 98% of the volume in the stomachs of 19 adults from Grand Cayman Island (158 Cruz, A., and D. W. Johnston (1979). Occurrence and feeding ecology of the Common Flicker on Grand Cayman Island. Condor 81(4):370–375. Close ). DNA barcoding of fecal samples of 24 nestlings from 6 nests from a recently burned forests in western United States revealed greater diet breadth with 83% of the fecal samples containing ants and with Diptera, Lepidoptera, and Hemiptera also being common, found in 60–83% of samples (166 Stillman, A., C. Marcos, T. Lorenz, M. Jusino, and M. W. Tingley (2022). DNA metabarcoding reveals broad woodpecker diets in fire-maintained forests. Ornithology 139: ukac009. Close ).

On the grasslands of central British Columbia, Northern Flicker avoided foraging on the large, thatch mounds of Formica ants, apparently because the aggressive adults had strong bites and formic acid defenses. They instead focused on smaller ant species, and/or larval ants (167 Elchuk, C. L., and K. L. Wiebe (2003). Ephemeral food resources and high conspecific densities as factors explaining lack of feeding territories in Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus). Auk 120(1):187–193. Close ). Whether the Northern Flicker is selective of ant species in other locations or simply takes prey opportunistically needs further study.

Information needed. Northern Flicker is unable to synthesize carotenoid precursors of red and yellow feather pigments (168 Test, F. (1942). The nature of the red, yellow and orange pigments in woodpeckers of the genus Colaptes. University of California Publications in Zoology 46(6):371–390. Close ); these are obtained from the diet and can be supplemented from a variety of vegetables (e.g., carrots, paprika); see Plumages. One Northern Flicker was observed eating clay from a riverbank which was assumed to aid in digestion and mineral consumption (169 Rea, R. V. (2017). Use of fine-textured, mineral-rich soils by a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) in North-central British Columbia. American Midland Naturalist 178:290–297. Close ), but further observations are needed to determine whether such birds are excavating for insects in the ground or excavating roost sites such that the soil consumption was incidental.

Information needed.

May occasionally drink from natural catch-basins in trees, such as knot-holes (133 Kilham, L. (1983). Life history studies of woodpeckers of eastern North America. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 20, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close , WSM) or from the edges of streams, ponds, or lakes (e.g., 157 Elchuk, C. L. (2001). Home range, territoriality and foraging site selection of the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). MSc. Thesis, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Close ). A flicker was seen chipping at ice under a suet feeder in January in Montana and eating the small fragments, presumably as a source of water (170 Hendricks, P. (1996). Ingestion of snow and ice by Pileated Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. Northwestern Naturalist 77(1):20–21. Close ), but perhaps also targeting fallen food fragments in the ice.