Northern Flickers, which are common all across North America,
occur in two subspecies, Yellow-shafted in the north and east,
and Red-shafted in the west. In flight Red-shafted flickers show
a salmon-red colour under the wings and tail, whereas the
Yellow-shafted show a golden-yellow colour. That seems
straightforward enough: red=Red-shafted, yellow=Yellow-shafted.
But on perched birds the feather shaft colours don’t always
show, so you have to rely on the differences in head markings: a
red mustache on male Red-Shafted flickers, black on male Yellow-
shafted. Females lack mustache marks. Both male and female
Yellow-shafted have a red crescent on the nape, which Red-
shafted birds lack. Yellow-shafted flickers have a grey crown
and brown cheeks, and Red-shafted have a brown crown and grey
cheeks. All this can be a little hard to keep straight in your
head. Male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker Male Red-shafted
Northern Flicker Now to complicate things. Although the two
forms were once considered to be separate sp