A medium-sized flicker specialized for nesting in saguaro cacti. Key cavity-nester in southwestern deserts.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The gilded flicker is a large woodpecker of the Sonoran, Yuma, and eastern Colorado Desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including all of the Baja California peninsula except the extreme northwestern region. Yellow underwings distinguish the gilded flicker from the northern flicker found within the same region, which has red underwings.
Source: Wikipedia — Gilded flicker Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Brown-barred back, spotted belly with a black crescent bib, and bright yellow wing and tail shafts (like a Yellow-shafted Flicker but in the desert Southwest); male has a red malar stripe.
Similar species. Northern Flicker (Red-shafted, in the same region) has salmon-red wing shafts; Gilded shows yellow shafts with a Red-shafted-style head.
Voice. A long, ringing 'wik-wik-wik' and a sharp 'klee-yer', like other flickers.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Insects (especially wood-boring beetle larvae), some fruits and seeds.
Behavior. A desert flicker of the Sonoran Desert that excavates nest holes in giant saguaro cactus; forages on the ground for ants like other flickers.
§ Range
Sonoran Desert
§ Habitat
Saguaro and other tall desert cacti
§ Threats
Saguaro cactus loss, climate change.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the gilded flicker is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support Sonoran Desert conservation. Plant native cacti.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Gilded flicker
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Colaptes chrysoides
- IUCN Red List — search for Colaptes chrysoides
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Colaptes chrysoides
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
