Voice of the Wild

Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus). 

The woodpecker with handsome plumage and a taste for ants. 

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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
  • Northern flicker call by Wil Hershberger (ML507419)
  • Northern flicker "kew" call by Leonard J. Peyton (ML507416)
  • Northern flicker "wick" call by Wil Hershberger (ML507414)
  • Pileated woodpecker call by Dave Herr (ML507434)
Sources and more: 
  • https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker 
  • https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-flicker 
  • Dobson, C., Kassenbaum, D., Oehmke, D., & Misewicz, M. (2023). Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Scissortail LLC. 
  • Godfrey, M. A., & Kaufman, Kenn. (Directors). (2004). National Audubon Society videoguide to the birds of North America [Video recording]. In Audubon videoguide to 505 birds of North America DVD I & DVD II (Fullscreen.). Godfrey-Stadin Productions. 
  • Peterson, R. T., & Peterson, V. M. (1980). A field guide to the birds: A completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America (Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 
  • Sibley, D. (2016). Sibley birds East: Field guide to birds of eastern North America (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf. 
  • Walton, R. K., & Lawson, R. W. (1989). Birding by Ear: Eastern/Central [Compact Disc]. On Eastern/Central birding by ear. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

What is Voice of the Wild?

If you learn to listen for them, you will find wildlife everywhere. Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make. Tune in every Friday to learn a new bird song, frog call, or insect noise.

This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

On close inspection this woodpecker’s garb is downright victorian; they have a delicate spot at the end of each feather of the chest and belly; a refined black rough at the front of the neck, the males even have a handsome black mustache along the sides of the face. But most notable of all; both sexes have a brilliant flash of color hidden on the underside of their wings. This is the northern flicker.

At a distance the flicker’s call can be confused with the similar sounding pileated woodpecker. A good rule of thumb is this: if there’s a question at all, it’s probably a flicker; the pileated’s call is very forceful. Here’s the flicker…and here’s the pileated:

Unusually for a woodpecker, the flicker typicaly directs their excavation efforts into the ground instead of wood, that’s good news for tree-dwelling beetle larvae and bad news for colonies of ants. Here’s the northern flicker again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW