flicker

flicker, any of several New World woodpeckers of the genus Colaptes, family Picidae (q.v.), that are noted for spending much time on the ground eating ants. The flicker’s sticky saliva is alkaline, perhaps to counteract the formic acid that ants secrete. Its bill is slenderer than in most woodpeckers and is slightly down-curved. The six species—most with a white rump, black breastband, and varied head markings—include the yellow-shafted flicker (C. auratus) of eastern North America, which has more than 100 local names. This golden-winged form, which measures about 33 cm (13 inches) in length, is replaced in the West (to Alaska) by the red-shafted flicker (C. cafer), considered by many authorities to represent the same species as the yellow-shafted because the two forms hybridize frequently. The campos, or pampas, flicker (C. campestris) and the field flicker (C. campestroides)—sometimes considered to be a single species—are common in east-central South America; they are darker birds with yellow faces and breasts.