By Mike's Birds (Northern Flicker Uploaded by Magnus Manske) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
aka Yellow-shafted Flicker
Status.
Category E
Native Range
North America. Breeds over a large swathe of Alaska, Canada and the USA. Resident in much of the USA and a winter visitor to the western gulf area.
British Occurrence
NBN atlas has 1 records as at end 2024. Map Here.
A decomposed corpse believed to have been brought ashore in Caithness in July 1981 is regarded as a human-assisted transportee. (BOURC 38th Report)
This same report has a photo of a Northern Flicker taken in 1962 on board a ship crossing the Atlantic. At the start of the crossing there were at least ten Northern Flickers and more that 120 other Nearctic land-birds on board. The Flicker in the photo was the last to survive (despite sustenance being provided by the crew) and it departed the ship once it had docked in Ireland.
