Gilded flicker

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North American desert bird C. chrysoides

title: "Gilded flicker" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["colaptes", "birds-of-mexico", "fauna-of-the-sonoran-desert", "native-birds-of-the-southwestern-united-states", "taxa-named-by-alfred-malherbe", "birds-described-in-1845"] description: "North American desert bird C. chrysoides" topic_path: "geography/mexico" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_flicker" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary North American desert bird C. chrysoides ::

| image = Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) on top of cactus.jpg | image_caption = A male on a cactus | image_alt = A male on top of a cactus | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | status2 = G5 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = | genus = Colaptes | species = chrysoides | authority = (Malherbe, 1852) | range_map = Gilded Flicker range.png | range_map_caption = Range

The gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) is a large woodpecker (mean length of 29) of the Sonoran, Yuma, and eastern Colorado Desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including all of the Baja California peninsula except the extreme northwestern region. Yellow underwings distinguish the gilded flicker from the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) found within the same region, which has red underwings.

Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognized:

  • The Cape gilded flicker (C. c. chrysoides) resides in southern Baja California.
  • The brown gilded flicker (C. c. brunnescens) resides in northern and central Baja California.
  • Mearns' gilded flicker (C. c. mearnsi) resides in extreme southeastern California to Arizona and northwestern Mexico.
  • The Mexican gilded flicker (C. c. tenebrosus) resides in northwestern Mexico from northern Sonora to northern Sinaloa.

Habitat

The gilded flicker most frequently builds its nest hole in a saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), excavating a nest hole nearer to the top than to the ground.{{cite web |url = http://web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/profile.php?speciesCode=gilfli |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071203152757/http://web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/profile.php?speciesCode=gilfli |archive-date = 2007-12-03 |title = Gilded Flicker |access-date = 2011-01-24 |quote = Much of the Gilded Flicker's breeding biology needs study. Nesting begins in early April in the United States, and pair bonds appear to last for the breeding season. |publisher = National Audubon Society |author2=Eleanor Marie Marks |author3=C. Diane Boretos |title= Bird tracks and sign |year= 2001 |publisher= Stackpole Books |page= 311 |quote= Cavities in saguaros are cut out by these birds the year before they are inhabited. The excavated cactus secretes a fluid that hardens into a scab, thus preventing water loss, which could kill the cactus, as well as waterproofing the inside of the next cavity. | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1avqcmYRwrcC |isbn= 0-8117-2696-7}} Northern flickers, on the other hand, nest in riparian trees and very rarely inhabit saguaros. Gilded flickers occasionally hybridize with northern flickers in the narrow zones where their ranges and habitats overlap.

Diet

The gilded flicker's diet mostly consists of ants, as well as other insects such as beetles or termites. They forage on the ground by picking up insects or using their tongues to probe anthills. They also feed on fruits and berries.

References

Gallery

Image:Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) in flight.jpg|In flight Image:Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) by nest hole in saguaro cactus.jpg|By a nest hole in a saguaro

References

  1. BirdLife International. (2016). "''Colaptes chrysoides''".
  2. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  3. "Gilded Flicker Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".
  4. "Gilded Flicker {{!}} Audubon Field Guide".
  5. "Gilded Flicker ⋆ Tucson Audubon".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

colaptesbirds-of-mexicofauna-of-the-sonoran-desertnative-birds-of-the-southwestern-united-statestaxa-named-by-alfred-malherbebirds-described-in-1845