If you’ve ever wondered how to attract Northern Flickers to your backyard, you’re in the right place! These stunning woodpeckers are known for their unique markings and drumming sounds. By creating the right environment and offering the right food, you can welcome these beautiful birds into your space. Let’s explore some easy tips to make your backyard a perfect spot for Northern Flickers.
Table of Contents
- 1 Best Time to Feed Northern Flickers
- 2 Attract Northern Flickers with Flowers and Berries
- 3 Northern Flickers Like Clean, Clear Spaces
- 4 Attract Northern Flickers with a Freshly Cut Lawn
- 5 Attracting Northern Flickers to Your Bird Feeder
- 6 Provide Shelter for the Northern Flicker
- 7 Northern Flickers Love Bird Baths
- 8 Northern Flickers Eat Seeds and Nectar
- 9 Feed Northern Flickers Peanut Butter
- 10 Use Pine Cones and Wood Chips for Nesting
- 11 FAQs:
- 12 Author
Best Time to Feed Northern Flickers
To attract Northern Flicker birds to your garden or lawn, it’s essential to understand their feeding habits. The best time to provide food for them is from late spring to early summer, during their migration period. At this time, they are more likely to prefer seeds to unfamiliar foods. Offering seeds such as sunflower seeds or peanuts can attract them and help them maintain their energy during migration.
Attract Northern Flickers with Flowers and Berries
A wonderful way to bring Northern Flickers into your yard is by planting nectar-rich flowers. These flowers not only provide beautiful bursts of color but also attract insects, which are an important food source for Northern Flickers. Adding berry-producing plants to your garden can also be enticing, as these birds will feast on the fruit. Creating a yard that produces nectar and berries can offer both nutrients and a safe haven for these incredible birds to thrive.
Northern Flickers Like Clean, Clear Spaces
Northern Flickers are more likely to visit yards that are kept clean and free of obstructions. By clearing away debris and maintaining a tidy outdoor space, you help make it easier for these birds to locate food sources. A clutter-free yard can be more inviting, as it reduces the difficulty they face when searching for food, especially when they are migrating and need to fuel up.
Attract Northern Flickers with a Freshly Cut Lawn
Maintaining a well-mowed lawn is a simple but effective way to attract Northern Flickers. These birds forage for insects in the grass, and when it’s short, they can easily spot and peck at food on the ground. A freshly cut lawn encourages them to visit and provides an accessible food source. Keeping the grass trimmed creates an inviting environment for the birds to land, feed, and stay longer.
Attracting Northern Flickers to Your Bird Feeder
In addition to creating an ideal habitat with flowers, clean spaces, and trimmed grass, placing a bird feeder in your yard is a great way to attract Northern Flickers. Consider using a bird feeder designed for suet, which is particularly popular with woodpecker species like the Northern Flicker. The Squirrel Buster Suet Squirrel-Proof Feeder works wonders in keeping the suet accessible for birds while preventing squirrels from raiding it.
To fill your feeder, try offering suet, shelled peanuts, and hulled sunflower seeds. A suet cake like the Pine Tree Farms Peanut Butter Suet Cake Wild Bird Food is an excellent choice. You can find great deals on these products online, such as on Amazon.
Provide Shelter for the Northern Flicker
Creating a safe and welcoming shelter for Northern Flickers is essential in attracting them to your yard. These birds seek places where they feel secure, and providing the right environment can make all the difference. They can easily become stressed in unfamiliar spaces, so offering shelter in the form of trees, bushes, and even birdhouses can help make them feel at home.
In colder climates with freezing winter temperatures, it’s beneficial to encourage Northern Flickers to nest in the soil around your home. Consider preparing a warm and inviting area with a mix of natural landscaping elements like trees and shrubs. This will give them a safe place to nest and take refuge, especially during winter.
If you’re passionate about providing shelter, the Coveside Northern Flicker House is an excellent addition to your yard, offering a beautiful and functional space for these fascinating birds. You can find it on Amazon at the best price!
Northern Flickers Love Bird Baths
A bird bath is another fantastic way to attract Northern Flickers, especially during the colder months. Northern Flickers are drawn to the sound of running water, and a bird bath helps provide them with hydration, even during winter.
While bird feeders are great for attracting them year-round, a bird bath is an even more powerful tool in the winter when they need water the most. Consider adding one to your yard to encourage regular visits from these lovely birds.
Northern Flickers Eat Seeds and Nectar
Ensuring that you have a variety of food available is crucial to attracting Northern Flickers. These birds enjoy eating seeds, nectar, and insects found in flowers and plants. If you have an abundance of nectar-producing plants or trees with berries, you’re on the right track. But keep in mind, too much of a single food source may make it harder to attract them.
The Northern Flicker is an intelligent bird that can learn to recognize specific food signals, so offering different types of seeds, nuts, and berries is a great way to keep them coming back for more. By diversifying the food options in your yard, you’ll increase your chances of attracting these stunning birds.
Feed Northern Flickers Peanut Butter
A simple and effective way to attract Northern Flickers is by offering peanut butter. These birds have a strong preference for the taste and will happily visit a homemade pine cone feeder filled with peanut butter. To make the feeder, take a pine cone, spread peanut butter generously over the surface, and then hang it from a tree branch. This easy DIY project will not only attract Northern Flickers but also provide them with a delicious and nutritious treat.
Use Pine Cones and Wood Chips for Nesting
To make your yard even more appealing to Northern Flickers, ensure that you have an abundance of pine cones and wood chips. These materials are perfect for helping the birds build their nests. Northern Flickers use pine cones to line their nests, and they will also search for wood chips when building their homes. Surrounding your yard with trees, flowers, and shrubs can provide these materials, making it an ideal space for them to settle and nest.
Plant Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs That Attract Northern Flickers
Incorporating the right plants into your yard is key to attracting Northern Flickers. The following trees, shrubs, and flowers are particularly attractive to these birds:
- Mulberry Tree
- Northern Bayberry
- American Elderberry
- Black Gum
- Common Juniper
- Flowering Dogwood
- Hackberry
- Oak
- Red-Twig Dogwood
- Sassafras
- Service Berry
- Sumac
- Wild Cherry
- Virginia Creeper
These plants offer food, shelter, and the perfect environment for Northern Flickers to thrive. Adding them to your yard will not only beautify your outdoor space but also encourage these fascinating birds to make it their home.
By providing shelter, food, and the right environment for Northern Flickers, you’ll create a bird-friendly haven in your backyard that these wonderful birds will love to visit year after year.
FAQs:
Do Northern Flicker come to feeders?
Many people enjoy attracting northern flickers to their backyard feeder by placing suet or peanut butter at the feeder.
Do Flickers mate for life?
Most people think that animals mate for life, but do flickers really? Flickers are known to live in a pair-bond and defend their territory together. This leads some people to believe that they must mate for life. However, if one bird is removed from the pair, the other will soon find another partner and not return to its original mate.
What kind of suet do Flickers like?
So what kind of suet do flickers like? They prefer suet made from beef fat, or peanut butter and cornmeal.
Woodpeckers and flickers are related, as they are both members of the family Picidae. Woodpeckers are known for their distinctive drumming behavior, while flickers are known for their unique metallic calls.
Do Flickers eat peanuts?
Feeding Flickers peanuts is a good idea because they need to eat these types of nuts. Peanuts are not the only food that they eat, but it’s one of their favorites. Flickers are attracted to peanuts and will come closer to your house or feeder if you put them out.
What month do Northern Flickers nest?
In North America, Northern Flickers typically nest between February and July. The timing of their nesting season varies depending on the location, with northern birds generally nesting later than those in the south.
Are Northern Flickers rare?
Northern Flickers are actually quite widespread and common, despite their somewhat elusive nature. They can be found across North America, from Alaska all the way down to Mexico. Though they may not be the easiest bird to spot, they are certainly not rare by any means.
Do Northern Flickers use birdhouses?
The northern flicker is a large woodpecker that typically nests in trees, making holes in dead wood for its nest. However, this species will also use nest boxes, particularly if there are no suitable trees available. When choosing a nest box for flickers, be sure to select a model that is large enough to accommodate their sizable nests.
