Flickers are now tending chicks in their cavity nests.
When bringing food to its chicks, a flicker usually does not fly directly to the cavity where the chicks are. Rather it flies to some adjacent point and looks around for those who might be tracking its movements. It may not look as if this female is bringing food to its chicks, but the food it has collected is stored in its esophagus.
A flicker feeds its chicks by inserting its bill down the chick’s gape and regurgitating its food.
From the look of debris left on the parent’s bill, it was a meal of ant’s eggs, a flicker favourite.
Food is brought in; garbage is taken out. A male flicker flies off with a faecal sac.
You’re an action stopper with your camera par excellence…many thanks!
Perfect flight shot with fecal sac = one in a million..
I spotted a silhouette that resembled that of a flicker, but the song coming from the bird was more tuneful than any flicker I’ve ever heard. Any ideas, Alistair?
Wendy, possibly a Western Meadowlark.
Pristine, beautiful shots of the flickers, Alistair! Beautiful bird.
Perfect picture . Thanks so much again