gilded flicker
{{Short description|North American desert bird C. chrysoides}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) on top of cactus.jpg
| image_caption = Male on a cactus
| image_alt = Male on top of a cactus
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = G5
| status2_system = TNC
| genus = Colaptes
| species = chrysoides
| authority = (Malherbe, 1852)
| range_map = Gilded Flicker range.png
| range_map_caption = Range
}}
The gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) is a large woodpecker (mean length of {{convert|abbr=on|29|cm|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 (Colaptes auratus) found within the same region, which has red underwings.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies are recognized:
- The Cape gilded flicker (C. c. chrysoides) resides in southern Baja California.
- The brown gilded flicker (C. c. brunnescens) resides in northern and central Baja California.
- Mearns' gilded flicker (C. c. mearnsi) resides in extreme southeastern California to Arizona and northwestern Mexico.
- The Mexican gilded flicker (C. c. tenebrosus) resides in northwestern Mexico from northern Sonora to northern Sinaloa.
Habitat
The gilded flicker most frequently builds its nest hole in a saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), excavating a nest hole nearer to the top than to the ground.{{cite web
|url = http://web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/profile.php?speciesCode=gilfli
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071203152757/http://web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/profile.php?speciesCode=gilfli
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = 2007-12-03
|title = Gilded Flicker
|access-date = 2011-01-24
|quote = 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.
|publisher = National Audubon Society
}} Less frequently, they will also nest in desert washes with cottonwood or willow.{{Cite web |title=Gilded Flicker Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gilded_Flicker/id |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926162116/https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gilded_Flicker/id |archive-date=Sep 26, 2023 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=www.allaboutbirds.org |language=en}} 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.{{cite book |author= Mark Elbroch
|author2=Eleanor Marie Marks |author3=C. Diane Boretos
|title= Bird tracks and sign
|year= 2001
|publisher= Stackpole Books
|page= 311
|quote= 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.
| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1avqcmYRwrcC
|isbn= 0-8117-2696-7}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Gilded Flicker {{!}} Audubon Field Guide |url=https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/gilded-flicker |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207193749/https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/gilded-flicker |archive-date=Feb 7, 2024 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=www.audubon.org |language=en}}
Diet
The gilded flicker's diet mostly consists of ants, as well as other insects such as beetles or termites. They forage on the ground by picking up insects or using their tongues to probe anthills.{{Cite web |title=Gilded Flicker ⋆ Tucson Audubon |url=https://tucsonaudubon.org/bird_profile/gilded-flicker/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609214942/https://tucsonaudubon.org/bird_profile/gilded-flicker/ |archive-date=June 9, 2023 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=Tucson Audubon |language=en-US}} They also feed on fruits and berries.
References
{{Reflist}}
Gallery
Further reading
- Corman, T. E., Wise-Gervais, C. Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. (2005) {{ISBN|0-8263-3379-6}}.
- National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. (1999) {{ISBN|0-7922-7451-2}}.
External links
{{Commons category|Colaptes chrysoides}}
- [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=gilded+flicker&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Gilded flicker photo gallery] VIREO
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110708084225/http://borderland-tours.com/v2/images/stories/borderland/gallery_photos/arizona/008.jpg Photo-High Res]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20071023215855/http://borderland-tours.com/v2/content/view/39/59/ Article] borderland-tours
- [http://www.tsuru-bird.net/woodpeckers/flicker_gilded2.jpg Photo-High Res]; [http://tsuru-bird.net/woodpeckers/index.html Article] tsuru-bird.net
{{Taxonbar|from=Q596689}}
Category:Fauna of the Sonoran Desert
Category:Native birds of the Southwestern United States