Gilded flicker

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Gilded flicker
Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) on top of cactus.jpg
Male, cactus
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Colaptes
Species:
C. chrysoides
Binomial name
Colaptes chrysoides
(Malherbe, 1852)
Gilded Flicker range.png
Range

The gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) is a large woodpecker (mean length of 29 cm (11 in)) of the Sonoran, Yuma, and eastern Colorado Desert regions of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including all of Baja California, except the extreme northwestern region. Yellow underwings distinguish the gilded flicker from the northern flicker found within the same region, which has red underwings.

Contents

Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognized:

Habitat

The gilded flicker most frequently builds its nest hole in a saguaro cactus, excavating a nest hole nearer to the top than to the ground. [3] Less frequently, they will also nest in desert washes with cottonwood or willow. [4] Cavities in saguaros are excavated a year before they are inhabited. The cactus defends itself against water loss into the cavity of the nesting hole by secreting sap that hardens into a waterproof structure that is known as a saguaro boot. [5] Northern flickers, on the other hand, nest in riparian trees and very rarely inhabit saguaros. Gilded flickers occasionally hybridize with northern flickers in the narrow zones where their ranges and habitats overlap. [6]

Diet

The gilded flicker's diet mostly consists of ants, as well as other insects such as beetles or termites. [6] They forage on the ground by picking up insects or using their tongues to probe anthills. [7] They also feed on fruits and berries. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodpecker</span> Family of birds (Picidae)

Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common goldeneye</span> Species of bird

The common goldeneye or simply goldeneye is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. Its closest relative is the similar Barrow's goldeneye. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek boukephalos, a reference to the bulbous head shape of the bufflehead. The species name is derived from the Latin clangere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western bluebird</span> Species of bird

The western bluebird is a small North American thrush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern flicker</span> Member of the woodpecker family

The northern flicker or common flicker is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls. It is the state bird of Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acorn woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The acorn woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker, 21 cm (8.3 in) long, with an average weight of 85 g (3.0 oz).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phainopepla</span> Genus of birds

The phainopepla or northern phainopepla is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptiliogonatidae, the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flammulated owl</span> Species of owl

The flammulated owl is a small migratory North American owl in the family Strigidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Psiloscops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy's warbler</span> Species of bird

Lucy's warbler is a small New World warbler found in North America. This species ranges includes southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is one of only two warblers to nest in cavities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gila woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The Gila woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the desert regions of the southwestern United States and western Mexico. In the U.S., they range through southeastern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elf owl</span> Species of owl

The elf owl is a small grayish-brown owl about the size of a sparrow found in the Southwestern United States, central Mexico, and the Baja California peninsula. It has pale yellow eyes highlighted by thin white "eyebrows" and a gray bill with a horn-colored tip. The elf owl frequently inhabits woodpecker holes in saguaro cacti; it also nests in natural tree cavities. It is nocturnal and feeds primarily on insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aridoamerica</span> Ecological region of North America

Aridoamerica denotes an ecological region spanning Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, defined by the presence of the culturally significant staple foodstuff Phaseolus acutifolius, a drought-resistant bean. Its dry, arid climate and geography stand in contrast to the verdant Mesoamerica of present-day central Mexico into Central America to the south and east, and the higher, milder "island" of Oasisamerica to the north. Aridoamerica overlaps with both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange-chinned parakeet</span> Species of bird

The orange-chinned parakeet, also known as the Tovi parakeet, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found from southern Mexico through Central America into Colombia and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campo flicker</span> Species of woodpecker

The campo flicker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernandina's flicker</span> Species of bird

Fernandina's flicker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family. Endemic to Cuba, its small population of 600–800 birds makes it one of the most endangered species of woodpecker in the world. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andean flicker</span> Species of woodpecker

The Andean flicker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cactus wren</span> Desert bird, United States and Mexico

The cactus wren is a species of wren that is endemic to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. It is the state bird of Arizona, and the largest wren in the United States. Its plumage is brown, with black and white spots as markings. It has a distinctive white eyebrow that sweeps to the nape of the neck. The chest is white, whereas the underparts are cinnamon-buff colored. Both sexes appear similar. The tail, as well as flight feathers, are barred in black and white. Their song is a loud raspy chirrup; akin in the description of some ornithologists to the sound of a car engine that will not start. It is well-adapted to its native desert environment, and the birds can meet their water needs from their diet which consists chiefly of insects, but also of some plant matter. The cactus wren is a poor flier and generally forages for food on the ground. Ornithologists generally recognize seven subspecies, with the exact taxonomy under dispute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saguaro</span> Species of cactus in the Sonoran Desert

The saguaro is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea that can grow to be over 12 meters tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California. The saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona. Its scientific name is given in honor of Andrew Carnegie. In 1994, Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona, was designated to help protect this species and its habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saguaro boot</span>

A saguaro boot is the hard shell of callus tissue, heavily impregnated with lignin, that a saguaro cactus creates to protect the wound created by a bird's nesting house. The bird pecks through the cactus skin, then excavates downward to hollow out a space for its nest. When the saguaro dies, its soft flesh rots, but its woody infrastructure lasts much longer. So does the hollowed-out callus whose roughly boot-like shape gives it the name of "saguaro boot."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avian clutch size</span>

Clutch size refers to the number of eggs laid in a single brood by a nesting pair of birds. The numbers laid by a particular species in a given location are usually well defined by evolutionary trade-offs with many factors involved, including resource availability and energetic constraints. Several patterns of variation have been noted and the relationship between latitude and clutch size has been a topic of interest in avian reproduction and evolution. David Lack and R.E. Moreau were among the first to investigate the effect of latitude on the number of eggs per nest. Since Lack's first paper in the mid-1940s there has been extensive research on the pattern of increasing clutch size with increasing latitude. The proximate and ultimate causes for this pattern have been a subject of intense debate involving the development of ideas on group, individual, and gene-centric views of selection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain pygmy owl</span> Species of owl

The mountain pygmy owl is a small species of owl from the family Strigidae. They reside throughout southern Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Colaptes chrysoides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22681290A92900551. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22681290A92900551.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. "Gilded Flicker". National Audubon Society. Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2011-01-24. Much of the Gilded Flicker's breeding biology needs study. Nesting begins in early April in the United States, and pair bonds appear to last for the breeding season.
  4. "Gilded Flicker Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Archived from the original on Sep 26, 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  5. Mark Elbroch; Eleanor Marie Marks; C. Diane Boretos (2001). Bird tracks and sign. Stackpole Books. p. 311. ISBN   0-8117-2696-7. Cavities in saguaros are cut out by these birds the year before they are inhabited. The excavated cactus secretes a fluid that hardens into a scab, thus preventing water loss, which could kill the cactus, as well as waterproofing the inside of the next cavity.
  6. 1 2 "Gilded Flicker | Audubon Field Guide". www.audubon.org. Archived from the original on Feb 7, 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  7. 1 2 "Gilded Flicker ⋆ Tucson Audubon". Tucson Audubon. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-07.

Further reading