This Morning Outside

by Diane Porter

October 5, 2010
At Birdwatching Dot Com
Fairfield, Iowa

In the dimness of a foggy morning, a male flicker skulks in a patch of Iowa woods.

Photo copyright 2010 Michael and Diane Porter

To be precise, it is a male Northern Flicker, whose scientific name is Colaptes auratus. This fellow belongs to the yellow-shafted subspecies. You can tell that because of his brown face and black whisker stripe. (The other race, which is found more westerly in North America, is red-shafted. Red-shafted Northern Flicker males have a gray face and a red whisker stripe.)

—Diane Porter

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