Flickers
Every year “woodpeckers” (Northern Flickers) descend upon our house and neighborhood. First the males come and drum on all wood and metal to stake out a territory. Then they look for places to make nests and love to make holes in the wood sides of our house. We have tried bright ribbons and a hawk effigy to deter them. Those don’t work. Installing a bird box has been interesting I built a bird box several years ago. The theory is that by providing a place for a pair of flickers to nest they will quit making holes in your house. They will also defend their territory and drive away other flickers. In 2020 I installed a bird box cameral to see what is going on in there. I chronicled the story in my journal pages and plan to develop them into a book.
Norther Flicker from Box to Hatch
This collection of journal pages begins with setting up a nesting box and bird box camera, a male flicker establishing territory, finding a female mate, the female laying eggs, a long incubation, and hatching on Mothers Day. This poster won the 2020 John James Audubon sketch contest in Denver.
The story continued from the Mother’s day hatch until fledging in early summer 2020
