Northern flicker
A woodpecker that often feeds on ants on the ground.
NPS says northern flickers are about 12 inches long, with a brown back barred in black, a black chest patch and spotted belly. Underwings and tail can show yellow or red, and males wear a colored 'mustache' stripe near the bill.
They prefer open forests, tree groves, towns and semi-open ground such as fields and meadows. The diet is mostly ants and other insects, widened in fall and winter to fruits, berries, seeds and nuts.
Eastern yellow-shafted and western red-shafted forms are described by NPS; check which form you are seeing. Watch the ground at the edge of a clearing before you look at the trees.
How to recognize it
Brown barred back, spotted belly, black chest patch; yellow or red under the wings and tail.
Watching and staying safe
Watch open ground and tree edges from the trail.
Places the sources name
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