Viewing Woodpeckers in Washington
Where and when to see them:
Flickers or woodpeckers are usually found in areas covered in trees they also appear in treeless areas where utility poles, wood sided homes, and other structures that substitute for trees when they are not available. They are often seen hopping around lawns where they catch ants and other insects with their sticky tongues. Winter is a good time to watch flickers / Woodpeckers in Washington with the leaves off many trees, the birds are more easily seen.
What to look for:
Woodpeckers / Flickers can be recognized by their undulating flight wings flapping as the bird flies up and wings folded on the way down. Signs of roosting, nesting, and feeding sites are likely to be seen in wooded areas where there are old, large trees that have some dead or rotting wood on them. Look for fresh wood chips on the ground below an excavation site. A popular feeding tree is obvious because of the number of holes in it. Flickers use various visual displays, including head-weaving and body-bobbing, during courtship and as signs of aggression toward intruders.
The most active displaying occurs early in the breeding season, before nest-building, when the birds are pairing and there is competition for mates.
If you offer suet at your feeder, flickers may become regular visitors.
Flickers or woodpeckers are usually found in areas covered in trees they also appear in treeless areas where utility poles, wood sided homes, and other structures that substitute for trees when they are not available. They are often seen hopping around lawns where they catch ants and other insects with their sticky tongues. Winter is a good time to watch flickers / Woodpeckers in Washington with the leaves off many trees, the birds are more easily seen.
What to look for:
Woodpeckers / Flickers can be recognized by their undulating flight wings flapping as the bird flies up and wings folded on the way down. Signs of roosting, nesting, and feeding sites are likely to be seen in wooded areas where there are old, large trees that have some dead or rotting wood on them. Look for fresh wood chips on the ground below an excavation site. A popular feeding tree is obvious because of the number of holes in it. Flickers use various visual displays, including head-weaving and body-bobbing, during courtship and as signs of aggression toward intruders.
The most active displaying occurs early in the breeding season, before nest-building, when the birds are pairing and there is competition for mates.
If you offer suet at your feeder, flickers may become regular visitors.
This information was provide by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Russell Link, and Michael Holmquist
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