General Description: Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) are large, noisy woodpeckers, generally of the mountains, with a barred, brown back, a white spotted front, and black neck band, and a white rump. The face is gray, and the crown is brown. In flight, Northern Flickers around Las Vegas show red in the wings (red wing linings), leading to another common name: "red-shafted flicker." Males have a red mustache mark; females lack a mustache.

In the east and far north, Northern Flickers have yellow wing linings and are referred to as "yellow-shafted flickers." In the southern deserts (from about Searchlight southward) however, another species of flicker has yellow wing linings: the Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides). Keep any eye out for Gilded Flickers in the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area.

Favored Habitat: Generally mountain habitats (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland up to the Bristlecone Forest) with pine and fir trees, but some are found in higher-elevation desert habitats (Mojave Desert Scrub).

Where to Find: Mt. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon NCA, and higher elevations in the Desert National Wildlife Range (Mormon Well area).

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