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Northern Flickers Have Finally Found Their Nest Box

Northern Flicker Female

Northern Flicker Female (Colaptes auratus cafer) at Nest Box Entrance

I finally have a pair of Red-shafted Northern Flickers nesting the the nest box I mounted about three years ago. Watch the video below as the male beckons the female to the nesting site. And read the full post over at 10000 Birds!

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  • Mark Sandridge May 27, 2016, 11:12 am

    I saw the log suet feeder idea for woodpeckers and flickers in a much older post. I’d been looking for this answer for hours and think the log idea will work perfectly for my problem. However, what I don’t know is whether Steller’s Jays and grosbeaks can hang onto a log feeder like woodpeckers and flickers, or do they need a branch or some other kind of perch to land on?

  • Larry Jordan May 27, 2016, 2:58 pm

    Hi Mark, Steller’s Jays are incredibly smart, agile and opportunistic, I’m sure they can feed from the log type suet feeder. I don’t know if Grosbeaks could hang onto it. Try it and see! Then let me know 😉

  • Mark Sandridge June 2, 2016, 1:23 am

    Larry- I’ve had to spend a lot of time and effort wiring up my feeders just to keep the Jays out. They were eating me out of house and home. Now they are limited to a plate of cracked corn. I recently purchased a caged suet feeder that will keep the Jays out but still allows the woodpeckers in. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not willing to expend time, effort and money to put in a log suet feeder just to see if the Grosbeaks can hang onto it while watching the Jays enjoy my homemade suet. The Grosbeaks are seasonal visitors here and eat quite a bit as it is. My guess is that they wouldn’t be interested in the suet anyway.

  • Ingrid August 7, 2016, 1:01 pm

    Hi, Larry ~ I just now saw this post. How beautiful! And what a worthwhile wait. Three years is a genuine exercise in patience. I read the post at 10,000 Birds. How much did he excavate before he moved in? And — did you have to freshen up the cedar shavings each year, or do they stay dry and suitable for these guys over time?

  • Larry Jordan February 7, 2018, 8:36 pm

    Hi Ingrid! Better late than never with a reply I guess? I originally filled the box with cedar shavings, fairly tightly packed to imitate a dying tree. The flickers excavated about half of the shavings! Once their nesting was completed, I replaced the remaining shavings which were pretty well soiled, with new shavings, however I only filled the box up to the point where they had excavated before the nesting rather than filling it up to the entrance hole.