RED-SHAFTED FLICKER 287 



ible seeds, mainly those of the sumac, and not enough animal food, 

 which ordinarily amounts to mere than half of the average food 

 supply. 



M. P. Skinner (1928), writing of the Sandhills of North Carolina, 

 says: "Flickers stay in the Sandhills all winter, but the infrequent 

 snowstorms cause them lots of trouble in finding food. On January 

 10, 1927, 1 found quite a little coterie of birds had scratched the leaves 

 under a dogwood tree until they had a space twelve feet in diameter 

 more or less cleared of snow. Here, among other species of birds, 

 were two Flickers foraging among the leaves for fallen dogwood ber- 

 ries. These berries were probably eaten until weather conditions 

 became better for insect catching. Even during winter, ants are 

 fairly plentiful for the Sandhill Flickers, especially on warm days." 



COLAPTES CAFER COLLARIS Vigors 

 RED-SHAFTED FLICKER 



Plate 37 



EtABITS 



This western representative of our well-known eastern flicker is 

 so closely related to it and so similar to it in all its habits that 

 practically all that has been written about the northern flicker would 

 apply equally well to the red-shafted species. The two differ strik- 

 ingly in coloration, but the color pattern is similar in both, and the 

 fact that they interbreed so freely and extensively where their ranges 

 come together shows their close relationship. The only differences 

 in their habitats, nesting, and feeding habits are due to the differences 

 in enviroimaents. 



The red-shafted flicker is a wide-ranging species through many 

 types of open country or sparsely wooded regions, from the Rocky 

 Mountains to sea level on the Pacific coast. It is a common bird near 

 human habitations in thinly settled towns and villages and in agricul- 

 tural regions, as well as in the wilder foothills and mountain slopes 

 up to timberline, but not on the treeless plains or deserts. The Weyde- 

 meyers (1928), referring to its haunts in northwestern Montana, give 

 a good idea of its habitat there, which would doubtless apply equally 

 well throughout its range elsewhere ; they say : "The Flicker is most 

 abundant about farms and in cut-over woods, nesting commonly near 

 barnyards and in pastures. An observer will note fewer and fewer 

 individuals as he passes from cultivated farms into stiunp-lands ; 

 from there to virgin forests of fir, larch, and yellow pine ; thence into 

 the lodgepole pine and white pine woods of the lower part of the 

 Canadian zone ; and onward into denser forests of alpine fir, spruce, 

 and arborvitae. But he will find the birds increasing in numbers on 



