Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

• HABITAT - Northern Flickers live in woodlands, forest edges, and fields with scattered trees, as well as city parks and suburbs. The more northern breeders that nest in Canada and Alaska will migrate south in the winter.     
• DIET - Northern Flickers eat mainly insects, especially ants and beetles that they gather from the ground. They also eat fruits and seeds, especially in winter. The Northern Flicker has an extra-long tongue that can extend up to two inches past the tip of its beak, perfect for probing anthills.
• FACTS - Although it can climb up the trunks of trees and hammer on wood like other woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers to find food on the ground.
•  - Flickers nest in tree cavities where both sexes take part in the hole excavation as well as feeding and raising the young.