ARCHIVE
February through July 2004
Nesting Season 2006
Winter 2004-2005
| FLICKER CAM ARCHIVE February through July 2004 Nesting Season 2006 Winter 2004-2005 |
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| NORTHERN FLICKER TIMELINE: 2004 Red Shafted Flicker Colaptes auratus |
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February 21: Nesting
box attached to the east side of the house in
the place the flickers had begun pecking. The box
was stuffed tight with cedar chips for the flickers to
excavate. Putting up the box seemed to frighten the
birds away. We didn't see them, hear drumming on the house,
or hear their calls for the following week. |
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February 28: Signs of
excavation evident. We hope it was the flicker,
but we don't know for sure: if our camera caught the
bird's activity, we missed it--the archive only showed an
empty bird box by the time we checked it that morning. Why
did they throw the shavings around the corner onto the roof
instead of straight down to the ground? |
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February 29: Flickers were
back drumming on the house this morning, despite
the cold and snow. We added a camera for the outside
of the bird box, and a suet feeder to help attract the
flickers to it. |
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March 9: Lots of drumming
activity this morning between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00.
The bird seemed to move around, trying to drum on as
many places around the house as possible, and shows a real
preference for the metal flashing, which makes much more
noise than the wood siding. The drumming sounds like jack
hammer, and is quite loud inside the house. Male flickers drum
to attract a mate. Our camera caught the first glimpse of the
bird--or at least its tail feathers--when the bird sat on the
top of the box at picture time! |
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March 10: Between drumming
sessions, the Flicker enjoys the "treat" of suet
we put out. |
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March 17: We continue
to hear flicker calls and occasional drumming on the house,
but not much activity around the bird box. However, we do
have other sorts of flying visitors coming by on occasion!
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March 18: A lot of activity
around the box today. The bird did more excavation,
once again neatly depositing the cedar chips on the roof
of the house. While our cameras didn't catch the bird in
the act, we know he was there between 8:31 a.m. and 8:48 a.m.
because his activities emptied the box enough to throw the
camera out of focus! Outside the box, the flickers were calling
to each other as if they were having a singing contest, with much
drumming between calls. We couldn't tell if it was two males
disputing territory, or a male and a female answering each other.
One of the birds spent a lot of time in the neighbor's tree, so
we took a picture of it there!
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March 19: The back porch
was covered with cedar chips this morning, and when we
checked flicker cam we knew why! A pair of starlings had taken
over the bird box! Unlike the flickers who put the cedar chips
around the corner on the roof, the starlings pitch it straight
down. At about 8:45 a.m. we re-stuffed the bird box tightly
with more cedar, hoping to dissuade the unwanted squatters,
but it only took them 10 minutes to come back and see if they can
wedge themselves inside anyway! Hopefully, our strategy has some
merit, since there has been no evidence of a second starling infiltration
since the initial one at 8:55 this morning. 
Meanwhile, cedar chips right to the top mean our infra-red camera can't focus clearly on the interior image. The situation should resolve as soon as we have more flicker excavation. |
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March 20: Lots of drumming
and calling from the flickers this morning. The camera
caught the flicker as it clung to the outside of the box. The starlings
are back, too. Curiously, we are getting lots of close-ups
of starling feet from the interior camera. Starlings,
as perching birds, have three toes facing forward, and one toe
facing back to grasp a branch when perching. Flickers, like all
woodpeckers, have two toes facing forward, and two toes facing
back, to facilitate clinging to tree trunks. We continue to research
w
ays to discourage the starlings so the flickers
can nest in the box. |
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March 21: Flickers quite
active today, but no conclusive evidence of starlings.
Inside shots of birds are difficult to identify, but with no
pictures outside the box of starlings, we believe we may have caught
the flicker inside. We also had our first evidence of flicker visits
in the evening as well as the morning.
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March 22: Starlings are
back in force today, but the flickers are holding their own
so far. 
Both the flickers and starlings visited the box in the evening, but only the starling went inside. 
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March 23: Same old battle between
the starlings and the flickers. At least the flickers haven't
been driven away by the starling's activities. |
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March 24: Starlings
quite active, both in the early morning and from about
1:00-2:00 p.m. Flickers are drumming, but only came to the
box for a few minutes around 10:45 a.m. today.
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March 25: The birds are settling
into a pattern. The flickers drum loudly on the house beginning
at about 6:00 a.m., but do not approach the box. The starlings
are active in the early morning, monopolizing the nesting box.
The flickers return at about 10:00. Today, the male spent almost
an hour clinging to the box's hole and peeking inside, from 11:27
a.m. to 12:20 p.m., but while he poked his head in, he didn't enter.
Then, the starlings returned to squat in the box from about 1:00-2:00
p.m. Today, we got our first really good picture of the male flicker's
red mustache cheek band.
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March 26: Flicker activity at
7:00 a.m., and again around 10:55 a.m. and 11:47 a.m., but no
evening visits today. Lots of starling activity all day long. |
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March 27 & 28: Lots
of flicker drumming and calling activity around the house, but
no birds on the box. The starlings are getting more and more active
and stay on or in the box for long periods. We chase them away whenever
we can. Snow on the 28th put a damper on all the bird activity during
the middle of the day. |
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March 29: Flickers and starlings
are in the box in the closest timing ever: starlings present
at 6:38 a.m., and then the flicker appeared at 6:48 a.m.. The flicker
only stayed a minute, and the starlings were back at 6:54 a.m. The
flicker returned for a snack of suet at 7:01 a.m., staying for five
minutes. Starlings returned at 7:35 a.m. The male flicker returned at 1:20 p.m. and was pecking around the opening of the box. Drumming sounds like a jackhammer-BRRRRRRRrrrmmmmmmm! Pecking is much more like listening to morse code: peck...peck...peck-peck...peck-peck-peck...peck! The flickers peck to create a hole in which to access their nest. The flicker pecked at the hole for about eleven minutes. This pecking at the bird box is exciting, because it means the flickers are really interested in making a home here! |
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March 30: The starlings continue
to chuck bedding out of the bird box. I chased them out at 8:09
this morning. The camera shows that just two minutes later, 8:11
a.m., the flicker moved in for some suet. 
The flicker returned for about 20 minutes around 11:00 a.m. for more pecking at the opening of the box. It didn't fly away when I opened the door to let the dogs out! At 2:41 p.m., the flicker was back, and for the first time, entered the nesting box. About 10 minutes later, at 2:52 p.m. as the flicker peeked out from the inside, or sat inside it, the starlings arrived, and stayed on the top of the box with the flicker inside until 3:23 p.m., when the flicker finally flew away. The starling took possession of the box immediately upon the flicker's departure. |
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March 31: Starlings got an early
start, at the bird box at 6:00 a.m., and back again at 7:04 a.m.,
just seconds after the flicker's image appears on the inside cam.
The starling continued outside, with the flicker inside for about
ten minutes, then the starling flew away. The flicker remained in
and around the box until 7:47 a.m. The starling was back inside just
two minutes later at 7:49 a.m. The flicker returned at 7:56, but in
the next frame at 7:58, the starling is back inside, and stays until
8:55 when a squirrel appears! Nothing but starling activity for the remainder
of the day. The fate of which birds will finally lay claim to the nest
box is still very much up in the air! |
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April 1: Flickers got
an early start, drumming at 5:30 a.m. until about 6:00. Only
starlings on camera, however, until the flicker came for
a snack at 8:04 a.m. It returned at 12:54 p.m. and stayed
in the box about fifteen minutes. |
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April 4: Both flickers appeared
at the nest box together, for the first time! |
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April 5: The starlings
have started to place nesting material in the box, a
behavior that will put the flickers off. We re-stuffed the box
with pine bedding, but it hasn't seemed to deter the starlings
much. No flicker activity was observed today. |
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April 6: Both starlings
are dominating the nest box. The flicker did stop by
just for a minute, for a snack. It was also observed in the
trees and bushes of the back yard. |
raindrops blur the picture of the flicker eating. |
April 7: Windy,
unsettled weather seemed to keep starlings and flickers
subdued today, although both starlings were in evidence,
just not as active as usual. The rain began in earnest at about
4:00 p.m., but the wet weather didn't stop the flicker from
coming by for some suet at 4:23 p.m. It was back at 5:56
p.m., and returned at 6:11 p.m. staying until 6:18 p.m. The flicker
was heard calling and seen flying in the back yard around one o'clock
this afternoon as well. |
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April 8:
The flicker was up with the sun at 6:25 a.m. At least
three flickers were calling to each other in the yard around
8:30 a.m. Their laughing calls can be heard all over the neighborhood.
Around 10:15 a.m. a squirrel visited the box and tried to run
off with the suet feeder. He only managed to switch it to the other
side of the bird box, so it is off camera at present. We will
get the ladder and shift it back as soon as time allows. Silly squirrel!
The flicker came back at 2:11 p.m. for a suet, and with the feeder on the other side of the box, afforded our first glimpse of the underside of the flicker's wings. Known as the "red shafted" flicker, the birds have a catalope-color to the underside of their wings and tail, which is quite spectacular when they are in flight. The flicker returned at 3:27 p.m. and again at 5: 03 p.m. for more suet. The starlings have been active in and around the box as usual, so it's encouraging that the flickers are being persistent, too. |
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April 9:
A cold and rainy night and gray drizzly morning. The
flickers were drumming and calling in the back yard as usual,
but nothing on camera. It appears that a starling spent the
night in the comfort of the nest box., as photos from 3:49 a.m.,
4:35 a.m., and 6:24 a.m. attest.
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The flicker doesn't let the starling keep him away 
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April
13: After a morning of starling activity, the squirrel
appeared about noon and pulled the suet feeder onto the top of
the nesting box. At 1:58 p.m. the flicker appeared, despite the
starling's presence on top of the box. It stayed for about
14 minutes until 2:12 p.m., and managed to pull the suet feeder
over the edge of the box so it hung precariously above the hole.
The flicker disappears, and the starling re-settles in the nesting
box. Then, at 2: 37 p.m., the flicker is back clinging to the box's
hole, trapping the starling inside. The view from the inside camera
shows the starling staying very still and in a corner of the box
for nearly 20 minutes while the flicker variously pecks at and peaks
into the nest box. Another flicker appears at 2:57 p.m., but the two
appear together only in the one frame. At 3:04 p.m., the flicker has
one last mouthful of suet and disappears. In the 3:06 p.m., the starling
pokes its head out of the box, and stays there until 3:50 p.m., when
it summons the courage for a snack, then flies away at 4:08 p.m. The
flicker returns at 4:16 p.m., for about six minutes and stays on the suet
feeder. At 4:28, the squirrel is back, and knocks the suet feeder to
the far side of the box again. Thus ends the nest box soap opera
for today.
The squirrel plays havoc with our suet feeder! |
Above: Interior of box showing nesting material. Starling tail visible. Below: starling perches on the box with a twig in its beak. |
April 14-17:
No flicker activity around the box. The starlings
are dragging nesting material inside again. As all the neighborhood
houses sprout flicker tape to drive the birds away, we are feeling
frustrated at the trouble we seem to be having attracting them. |
The starling is confused by the blocked opening to the box. |
April 18:
In an effort to discourage the starlings and give the flickers
a chance, we have stapled a square of thin balsa wood over the
opening in the nest box. We hope the starlings will lose interest
and get established in another nesting place. Hopefully, the flickers
will come back and peck through the soft wood in order to take possession
of the box. (We initially put the wood on the outside of the hole,
but were concerned the flickers would have nowhere to cling to and
peck at the wood, so we moved it to the inside where it is not visible
to the camera.) |
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April 19:
The starling had a go at the balsa blocking the nest box opening
this morning., but gave up after only a few minutes. The flicker
appeared at 11:56 a.m. and began pecking at the balsa. A second flicker
appeared at 12:08 p.m. and stayed until 12:14 p.m. The single
flicker remained until 12:48 p.m., apparently pecking out the hole
in the balsa. So far, our plan with the balsa starling baffle is
working!
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April
20: The flickers must have pecked entirely through the balsa
yesterday, because the starlings were back in the box first thing
this morning. They've begun dragging in strips of Russian Olive
tree bark that the dog skinned off the tree. However, the flicker
was back at 1:46 p.m. It was joined for one frame by the second
bird at 1:57 p.m., and remained on the box for 49 minutes until
2:37 p.m. It's unclear whether the starling was inside the box during
this time or no, but it was peeping out from the box only four minutes
later. The flicker returned at 3:29 p.m., but is not present in the
next photo. Then, at 4:24 p.m. the flicker returns, and stays at
the box for about another half hour, until 5:11 p.m. Tonight
we removed a football sized mass of nesting material the starlings
brought in and replaced the balsa starling baffle. Time will tell which
species will win the battle for the bird box but all the flicker activity
is very encouraging!
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April
21: The starling challenged the balsa baffle only once. The
flicker appeared at 11:56 a.m. and stayed until 12:09. It must have
knocked out the balsa, because at 12:19 p.m., the starlings resumed
their nest-building. 
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Above: Starling in the nesting box with the material it's brought in. Below: After we removed the old nesting material, the starling simply started over. 
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April
22: A cold and rainy day. The starlings have done an impressive
job of rebuilding a new nest in the box. We removed it this morning.
Undeterred, they began bringing in more nesting material. No flicker
activity today |
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April 10-12: Snow and cold put a damper
on all bird activity. The flicker was heard drumming on the
house, the starlings were in and out of the box as usual, and
the squirrel came by again. Not much of note happening during
the spring cold snap. |
Nice piece of nesting material--but the balsa baffle keeps the starling from getting inside the nest box! |
April 23-25: Rain and snow have put a damper
on bird activity. The flickers have not returned since the starlings
have become so intent on building a nest, and even the starlings aren't
interested in doing much in the cold and wet. On the 24th, we removed
the beginnings of another nest and put up a sturdier baffle over the
hole to encourage the starlings to go house hunting somewhere else. |
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April 26-30: The new improved bird baffle has
kept both starlings and flickers away. Internet connectivity woes have
kept the cameras out of commission most of the week, but we can say
with certainty that the balsa wood is still covering the nest box hole.
Rain, snow and wet weather have put a damper on all bird activity this
week. Only the blue jays seem to be active in the yard. |
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May 1: Good news and bad news. The
good news: the flicker returned to the box at 7:23
a.m., and by 7:56 a.m. had drilled a hole in the balsa
bird baffle. The bad news: it only took the starlings
until 8:14 a.m. to return to the box as well. The good news:
the hole the flicker pecked appears to be too small for
the starlings to squeeze through--they keep landing and shoving
but are unable to get inside the box. The bad news: the
flickers haven't been back to the box since this morning.
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May 2: The flickers held off
until 3:44 p.m. today, and spent about 12 minutes enlarging
the hole in the balsa. Knowing the bird was there, I couldn't
help but open the door to catch a live glimpse of the goings-on,
but unfortunately, the woodpecker flew away as soon
as it heard the click of the door's lock. The bird box opening
is now apparently big enough to admit starlings, if the pine
chips on the porch are any indication. A photo of a starling
inside the box at 4:42 p.m. offers proof they once again
can enter the flicker box.
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May 3: No flickers today, but
the starlings got a good start on the third nest they've
tried to build in the nest box. We will remove it tonight. |
Above: the starling discovers the "door" to the nestbox is "locked". Below: That stick wouldn't fit, even if the there weren't balsa blocking the opening! 
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May 4: Another day, another
balsa bird baffle. Looks like it's doing it's job so far...no
starlings inside the box, anyway! |
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May 5-9: No bird activity around the
box since we put up the last balsa baffle. Not exactly
sure why, but perhaps the flickers found another nest
site where competition from starlings was less of a problem.
Also, there is a pair of blue jays nesting in a neighboring
spruce tree. Our research indicates that jays are known to
drive other birds from feeders and sometimes steal eggs or even
hatchlings for food. Have the flickers been driven off by the
jays? We will keep watching, in case the flickers return to their
territory around our house. May 10-16: No bird activity around the box at all. Apparently the flickers have moved on. Our research shows that flickers normally raise only one brood per season, so we're loosing hope of having flicker babies in the box this year. Whether it was the starlings, blue jays, or our efforts at starling proofing, we don't know, but it is disappointing we will not get to watch these beautiful birds raise their family in 2004. |
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June 6: A flicker
was calling quite enthusiastically this morning
around 6:00 a.m., and we heard it drum on the house twice.
Flickers have been in evidence around the house, calling,
and on the ground eating, but this is the first drumming
activity on the house since early May. |
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July 15th: We have de-activated
the cameras, since the flickers did not use our
nest box to raise a family this year. We are already planning
strategies for a successful box next spring. |
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Cam provides views of a privately maintained
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