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Birds Low‑importance Northern flicker is part of WikiProject Birds, an attempt at creating a standardized, informative and easy-to-use ornithological resource. If you would like to participate, visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Please do not substitute this template.BirdsWikipedia:WikiProject BirdsTemplate:WikiProject Birdsbird articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. 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I definetly wouldn't give it more than a Start-Class. it has good information, but it needs to be lengthened and it has a lot of good stuff in the introduction that needs to be put elsewhere. But this has a lot of interesting stuff in it. - Cynops 14:29, 10 March 2007 (UTC) reply

I moved some information around and re-formatted section headers to bring them in line with some of the featured articles in WikiProject Birds. We still need range information in the new Taxonomy section. There seemed to be some info in the article that is interesting but borderline trivia. I don't see many other articles that have sections explaining what the scientific names mean for example. I moved this info to the taxonomy section as it was interesting and that seemed the most appropriate place. The info on the Alabama Yellowhammers is also interesting but I have this feeling it would be more appropriate on a page about the Alabama yellowhammers and then just linked off this page. At any rate, the article could also use a section titled "Relationship with humans" that includes conservation status. Conceivably, the yellowhammer information could go in that section. I didn't add much of any new info but the sections are set up to be filled in now and it should be more obvious where the holes are. Kirkmona ( talk) 15:32, 27 June 2008 (UTC) reply

I think the new pics are pretty good, but the range map could be labeled (I think the colors are supposed to be different subspecies but I'm not sure). I also don't really like having the photo gallery at the end is a really good idea. Cynops 02:13, 17 March 2007 (UTC) reply

With the range map I followed the color guidelines specified in WikiProject: Birds, so basically yellow is summer, blue is winter, and green is year-round. When I first started making those I tried putting a legend on each range map to specify what the colors mean, but the legend was too small to read in the thumbnail, and too big on the expanded version of the image. So I settled for putting the info on the map's description page, which isn't a perfect solution but is the best I've come up with so far.

As far as the photos go, the last version of the page had 4 images, but none of them showed what I'd consider to be the bird's most important identifying physical characteristics - yellow or red wing bars, and the red bar on the back of the head. I think people are using the bird articles on Wikipedia the way we once would have used a paperbound Field Guide - first to identify a bird they saw, and then to learn a little more about it. So I think it's important to have a good range map and good quality images that can help with identification.

I threw the photo gallery in there because I thought each of those images were relevant to the article, and I wasn't comfortable tossing them, but I didn't think they needed to be taking up a bunch of page space. A gallery makes them easily accessible without really breaking the flow of the article.

But those are just my thoughts on the subject. I'm still pretty new at this, so if someone would prefer it done another way it wouldn't bother me at all. 'Card 02:35, 17 March 2007 (UTC) reply

I don't have time to go through it all right now but this looks like a good reference for DNA analysis of yellow-shafted, red-shafted and gilded flickers. If someone has time to read though it before I do please feel free to add any good information to the taxonomy section. http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/8/3/327.pdf Kirkmona ( talk) 14:55, 27 June 2008 (UTC) reply

IUCN red list has 'Colaptes cafer' and 'Colaptes Mexicanoides' as separate species Green daemon ( talk) 21:11, 23 December 2014 (UTC) reply

Why are the Footnotes and References sections identical, with each calling the {{ reflist}} template? Are both needed? Just passing through the article, and thought I would mention! -- papageno ( talk) 21:04, 24 September 2008 (UTC) reply

Nice catch. I removed one of them. Kirkmona ( talk) 02:19, 25 September 2008 (UTC) reply

Seems to me that a lifespan isn't how long the oldest recorded lived, but should be a general average amount of time they live. Anyone care to change that? -- 216.106.104.80 ( talk) 00:48, 16 May 2011 (UTC) reply

Found an article that talks about this question and edited the Lifespan section to include the information. I introduced a duplicate reference using the visual reference editor which I could not figure out how to remove. But, hey, overall, it's better. dwmc ( talk) 22:04, 12 January 2019 (UTC) reply

Thanks, Dwmc. I moved the ref from the top down to replace the one in the section. Hope that achieves the desired result. Eric ^talk 22:41, 12 January 2019 (UTC) reply

Hello all- I just replaced a general Cornell Lab link with a report page from ITIS as a source for the number of subspecies indicated in the Taxonomy section. I'm no expert here; can someone familiar with the species verify my change? The ITIS page shows a total of ten subspecies, but does not include info re extinction. Eric ^talk 16:03, 27 March 2016 (UTC) reply

I have never heard a yellowhammer/flicker make such a call as provided, or anything close. They do a very exotic, loud, sustained call that is difficult to begin to describe. It sounds like it would be better located in a tropical jungle. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.249.146.8 ( talk) 00:33, 5 December 2017 (UTC) reply

• I agree. Here is a link to what I deem a more-common sound that I often hear here in Michigan: https://www.hbw.com/ibc/sound/yellow-shafted-flicker-colaptes-auratus/audio-showing-territorial-call-northern-flicker And yes, it does sound similar to a Pileated Woodpecker, but not the same.

-- 2600:6C48:7006:200:D84D:5A80:173:901D ( talk) 23:46, 28 August 2018 (UTC) reply

There is another kind of call when they're engaging in certain kinds of interaction (courtship maybe? not sure). See the third audio file here or the "interaction calls" here. As an aside, on inspection it looks like our file is improperly licensed (the website it's taken from has an incompatible CC license), so it might wind up deleted anyway. — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 02:20, 29 August 2018 (UTC) reply

hello all. as part of a university project, I have expanded the section on wintering and migration. Previously, this section included only one sentence regarding partial migration with no citation. In my expansion, I have made sure to include that information with a citation, along with other information including a figure from Gow & Wiebe 2014 which is licensed under CC 4.0. I hope that my work meets the conventions of Wikipedia appropriately JosiahrWILD ( talk) 23:37, 11 October 2023 (UTC) reply

@ JosiahrWILD, why did you revert it? Schazjmd  (talk) 23:42, 11 October 2023 (UTC) reply

I sincerely apologize for this. I had originally drafted the edit in the Sandbox, but was unable to move it directly from there. All reverts and re-reverts are documented and do not change content, simply add and remove my expansion to the wintering and migration topic. Apologies again JosiahrWILD ( talk) 23:49, 11 October 2023 (UTC) reply

Ah, I see there was a ref error. You used a ref name (:0) that was already defined in the article for a different ref. I've changed the ref names to resolve it. Schazjmd  (talk) 23:54, 11 October 2023 (UTC) reply

Thank you very much for your help, as I am still getting accustomed to working in Wikipedia. Please feel free to point out any other errors in formatting or customary practices JosiahrWILD ( talk) 23:59, 11 October 2023 (UTC) reply

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Flicker hole in CP (31848).jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for December 29, 2023. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2023-12-29. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you!  —  Amakuru ( talk) 16:46, 18 December 2023 (UTC) reply

The northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family, Picidae. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands. Adults of this species are brown with black bars on the back and wings, with a mid- to large-sized northern flicker measuring 28 to 36 cm (11 to 14 in) in length and 42 to 54 cm (17 to 21 in) in wingspan. Its body mass can vary from 86 to 167 grams (3.0 to 5.9 oz). Northern flickers are partial migrants, with those that do migrate beginning their spring migration in early April and making their return between September and October. Individuals that breed farther north travel greater distances than their migratory southern conspecifics, often resulting in the convergence of northern and southern populations at wintering sites. This male northern flicker was photographed looking out from a nesting hole in a tree in Central Park, New York City. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites Recently featured: Bell Island The Dover Boys at Pimento University Sonoma chipmunk Archive More featured pictures

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This article is currently the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 2 February 2024 and 3 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Ard1174 ( article contribs). Peer reviewers: As2460, Allisonk444, Ajk1129.

— Assignment last updated by Cara.begley ( talk) 17:40, 10 March 2024 (UTC) reply

Hello Schazjmd and all. Re the Guadalupe red-shafted flicker in the section Northern_flicker#Red-shafted_group: I don't read the cited source as connecting the feral goat and cat population to the re-appearance of these birds. Searching the text, I looked at every instance of the terms feral, goat, cat, subspecies, endemic, and flicker, and I don't see any connection asserted there. Eric ^talk 04:02, 4 April 2024 (UTC) reply

Yeah, somebody misread the source and added it, removed that bit. AryKun ( talk) 05:50, 4 April 2024 (UTC) reply

Okay, thanks for confirming that and for the edits. Eric ^talk 12:06, 4 April 2024 (UTC) reply