Some Utah Birds: The Red-Shafted Flicker

SOME UTAH BIRDS. BY CLAUDE T. BARNES, M. S. P. R., MEMBER NATIONAL ASSOCI- ATION AUDUBON SOCIETY. VI— THE RED-SHAFTED FLICKER. {Colaptes Mexieanus.) The library grate roared and crackled with such alluring interest and comfort that I wanted to snuggle with "Spike" on the rug before it, for through the windows nature appeared mantled with snow, and long unmelting icicles hung along the porch. How cold the world; how inviting home! Truly, winter had come — winter of which Cowper happily said: I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home- borne happiness, And all the comforts, that the lowly roof Of undisturb'd retirement, and the hours Of long, uninterrupted evening, know. Soon, however, the sun broke through the heavy clouds; a warm refulgence filled the air; the icicles began to drip; branch after branch of the evergreen trees, flipped away a mantle of snow; and invitingness swelled forth everywhere. Picking up my opera glasses, I ventured forth, hoping to meet some feathered friend which had taken advantage of the genial brightness of the hour in which to breakfast and rejoice in song. Even before I reached the orchard, I heard one drumming in the apple tree; and I knew it was the Flicker, for only he can beat such a powerful tattoo. Sure enough, there he was, walking up-

:'.K. IMPROVEMENT ERA. ward and around the grubby old trunk, pattering and pecking with the energy of B miner's drill and hesitating only when he uttered his load, penetrating call. I noticed that he frequently assumed a horizontal position on a limb— a characteristic of probably only one of the species of the family picidae. In Utah, we have several woodpeckers. Harris's woodpecker (Picus Villosus Harrisi), the black and white hairy little visitant of our orchards, is fairly common and altogether beneficial in his habits; the Downy woodpecker or Lesser Sapsucker (Picus Pubescens Gairdner), also a black and white drummer though very small in comparison with the others, is seen quite often, especially at this time of the year and is considered of great economic value; the Red-naped woodpecker (Sphyropicus varius nuchalis) is rare; Lewis's Woodpecker (melanerpes torquatus), which is almost black

SOME UTAH BIRDS. 347 like a crow and has a peculiar fluttering flight similar to that of a hawk, is quite common in Utah in the higher altitudes, though last October I saw a flock along the electric poles at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in Davis county; and, finally, there is the Redheaded wooapecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) which is so scarce that I can hardly consider it a Utah bird, having discovered but a single specimen, one taken twenty miles north of Salt Lake. The Red-shafted woodpecker (Colaptes Mexicanus) is by far the most common of our Utah tappers — it is he that is dear to the heart of the schoolboy, and interesting and companionable to the lonely rancher; — therefore we choose him as the subject of this paper, as the emblem of his family. On account of his habit of pecking a hole through the gable and making his home in the dwelling of man he is able to endure the hardest winters; and it is partly to emphasize this fact that this writing appears at this time. To most Utahns, the word "woodpecker" recalls the very bird we are considering, without, as a rule, bringing to mind any true name for him; but in order not to mistake him, we shall detail his chief colorings and characteristics. The Red-shafted Flicker is of considerable size when compared with other birds of the orchard, his total length being slightly over a foot. A long bill and a general suffusion of orange red readily distinguish him in flight, though while sitting silently on a branch, he may be mistaken, any time, for a robin or a mourning dove; that is, if seen from a distance of fifty yards or more. The general aspect of the upper surface of the bird is black and brown; that of the under, orange red, white and black. One of the most noticeable characteristics of this flicker, and the one from which it gets its name, is the fact that the wing quill shafts are all orange red, almost coral, instead of black as ordinarily seen there in our feathered neighbors. The back, the greater, lesser and middle wing coverts, and the scapulars are all light brown, each feather being barred, however, with black. The primaries (largest wing quills) and secondaries are white on the basal inner webs, though in the secondaries, this marking becomes a row of white spots on each side of every feather. The forth primary is the longest; the first, very short.

B4£ IMPROVEMENT ERA, The rump is pure white, though the upper tail coverts are marked with alternate Btripea of white and black. The closed tail is forked at the end; and, when nibbed upward, is of very resistant web. This spiny tail is used, of course, in Bnpporting the flicker on perpendicular trunks and limbs. The closed tail is black; but, when opened, it shows orangered basal shafts on the outer four quills, the terminals, however, being black. This variation in color of the feathor shafts gives the open tail a very pleasing coloration and design. The back of the neck and the throat are ash color. On the breast is a beautiful black crescent strongly contrasting with the ash of the throat and the mottled appearance of the abdomen. From the crescent backward over the whole under surface of the body extends a series of black round dots covering a dull white. The under wing coverts are white; and the rest of the under surface of the wing is a beautiful light orange red, which shows most conspicuously when the bird flies overhead. There is this same rich coral on the under tail except at the tip, where a black margin appears. There are on each foot three strong toes and a fourth tiny one on the inside at the back. The only difference in the markings of the sexes is that the male has a red cheek patch, which in the female is a mere brown tinge about the eye and the base of the bill. On the whole the under surface of the Flicker is handsome indeed; while the upper is a good example of protective coloring. The Flicker's tongue is round, barbed and as long as a man's finger. The little ant must crawl in a grub hole a long way before he gets out of reach of this hungry prober — the longest tongue to be found among all of the North American woodpeckers. The Red-shafted Flicker is found in practically all of that territory lying between Mexico and Canada, and the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. The habits of the Flicker are useful and interesting. It has been said to be shy; but my experience teaches the opposite. Years ago I learned to love him, for he was accustomed to beat such a loud tattoo on the school house that our teacher frequently permitted us boys to go down and frighten away the inconsiderate

SOME UTAH BIRDS. 349 creature. His drumming was /however, so similar in sound to our nocturnal "tic-tacking" with niched spools on windows, that I felt even then a certain sympathy for him and a secret liking of the irony of his diurnal disturbance. I have frequently seen a Flicker alight upon the building and clatter at his hole while all about were noisy children at recess. If the bird, in some localities, appears to be shy, it is very likely because Indians and boys hunt it persistently for its delicately colored feathers. The Flicker is quite as terrestrial as arboreal, being as fond of a dust bath as are the domestic birds. His song is varied and strong. Sometimes he utters a "quap! quap! quap!" in low guttural tone; but most frequently during the day he gives vent to a harsh stridulous "ker-ip, ker-ip." In the Springtime, however, his call consists of an indefinite number of "took! took! took! took! tooks!" resembling the call of a hen, but being shriller and quicker. The nest of this bird may be found at a height varying from two to seventy feet above the ground. It consists of a cavity chiseled out of a dead stub or live tree trunk to a depth of one to two feet. Apple orchards seem to be preferred, but occasionally one may find a nest hole in a post, a telegraph pole, or an embankment. The holes made in houses are usually for winter homes, not for nesting purposes. There is no lining or down in the nest, the bits of wood pecked from the tree, forming a sufficiently soft bed for the little ones. The assiduity manifested by the parent birds in cutting out their nest is truly remarkable. With surprising sagacity, they discover a hollow limb or trunk under a perfectly sound bark; then, alternating, they proceed to peck at the hole for days until the task is done. The male and female are, at all times, affectionate; and, especially at the nest-building time, do they encourage each other with every possible action and note of endearment. Sometimes they become so occupied in their work that one can hear them tapping late into the night. This nest-boring usually takes place between the first and fifteenth of May; and from four to ten white glossy eggs are deposited by the first of June. Two broods are raised in a year. If a nest of fledglings is disturbed, the parents fly about, uttering shrill squeaking notes

350 IMPROVEMENT ERA. varied only with an occasional guttural or gurgling tone. The young, themselves, hiss like a cat. When the birds have flown, the parents occasionally fill up the opening to the nest; but, usually, a new hole is bored each year, for no matter how hard the wood, the Flicker seems able to make the tiny chips fly with his strong persistent bill. Most of the young Flickers have a tinge of red on their head tops and a nuchal crescent of red; but these markings which, with variations in color, are characteristic of nearly all young woodpeckers, are merely embryonic, and disappear with maturity. The economic value of the Red-shafted Flicker is a subject replete with interest and instruction, for though to a certain extent frugivorous in his eating, by far the greater part of his annual fare consists of insects, which are subversive to the interest of man. Fifty-six per cent of the Flicker's yearly diet is made up of ants {Formicidae) — a fact which is as astonishing as it is gratifying. Ants are small but their destructive power in the aggregate is enormous. Not only are they wood-borers, but they perpetuate plant lice or aphides, which work inestimable injury to the agriculturist of this country. Millions and millions of dollars' worth of vegetation lost through the aphid ! —such is the annual complaint of the farmers. Professor Comstock says in his Manual of the Study oj Insects, page 157: It is easy to see what benefit ants derive from this association with plant lice, and how they should learn that it is worth while for them to care for their herds of honey producing cattle. Little has been done, however, to point out the great benefit that accrues to the plant-lice from this relationship. It seems fair to assume that the plant- lice are greatly benefited, else why has the highly specialized apparatus for producing the honey dew, been developed. Writers long ago showed that ants protect plant-lice by driving away from them lady-bugs and other enemies. Recently, however, Professor Forbes has demonstrated that, in certain cases at least, a more important service is rendered. In his studies of the corn plant louse, he found that this species winters in the wingless, agamic form in the earth of previously invested corn fields, and that in the Spring the plant-lice are strictly dependent upon a species of ant, Lasins alienees, which mines along the principal roots of the corn, collects the plant-lice, and conveys them into these burrows, and there watches and protects them. Without the aid of these ants, the plant-lice were unable to reach the roots of the corn .

SOME UTAH BIRDS. 351 Ants take very good care of their cattle (aphides) and will carry them to new pastures if the old ones dry up. They also carry the aphid eggs into their nests and keep them sheltered during the winter, and then carry the young plant-lice out and put them on plants in the spring. One is inclined to call the ant a treacherous hypocrite, for having long associated him with all that is industrious and systematic, we suddenly find his assisting to undermine the very means of our sustenance. Thanks to the Red-shafted Flicker for making up half of his meal with ants. The Flicker destroys also beetles, moths and miscellaneous insects to the extent of about twenty per cent of his annual fare. Only one per cent of its food consists of grain and a similar amount is of fruit ! — a fact which alone shows the Flicker to be one of our most useful birds. Of the mite of fruit taken, a large part is made up of raspberries and blackberries, usually wild. Besides this, it eats hackberry, poison ivy, sumac, elder, woodbine, and pepper tree. Of the weed seeds, it destroys purslane, thistle, amaranth, acorn and wild grass. The snow began to fall in big feathery flakes, the sun retired behind the clouds; and as I again sought the cosy grate of the library, I thought, what a shame ever to destroy a bird marked thus by beauty, usefulness and power! Salt Lake City, Utah.