{"id":2328,"date":"2016-03-25T21:15:52","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T04:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ocbirds.com\/?p=2328"},"modified":"2024-07-11T09:39:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T16:39:16","slug":"rare-northern-flicker-yellow-shafted-in-mission-viejo-rsm-3-25-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/?p=2328","title":{"rendered":"Rare Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) in Mission Viejo \/ RSM March 25th."},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Flicker is a stunning woodpecker species.\u00a0 They are common in Orange County and can be heard calling and perhaps singing throughout the year though moreso in winter months.\u00a0 They are easily distinguishable with their black polka dot chest over white plumage.\u00a0 They can be seen on the ground or up high in various tree types.<\/p>\n

A rare sub species was found today, the Yellow-shafted variation at Oso Reservoir near the 241 toll road and Los Alisos Blvd.\u00a0 The yellow-shafted are for the most part the eastern US variants whereas here in southern California, we have the red-shafted variants.<\/p>\n

The differences are typically easy to ID.\u00a0 If the under tail and under wing show a bright orange coloration, then you’ve more than likely seen the “red-shafted” sub species.\u00a0 However if you happen to see a yellow under tail and yellow under wing, this is more than likely the “yellow-shafted” variation.<\/p>\n

See the two comparative variants below.\u00a0 The male displays the red malar. This is a red marking within cheek area on the red-shafted variant\/sub species.\u00a0 The female does not display “any” malar marking.\u00a0 If the yellow -shafted were a male, the malar would be black in color vs. red.<\/p>\n

(Side note:\u00a0 there is an intergrade variant which is hybrid of both the red-shafted and yellow-shafted.\u00a0 Both the yellow-shafted and intergrade are considered rarities for Orange County.\u00a0 The intergrade would display the yellow under tail feathers with a minimal red crescent within the nape area and potentially a grayish head and throat)<\/p>\n

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\"Photo<\/a>
A rare “yellow-shafted” Northern Flicker (female), recorded in Orange County, CA on 3-25-16.\u00a0 The yellow-shafted are eastern US variants.\u00a0 Photo taken at Upper Oso Reservoir, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on March 25, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Photo<\/a>
A more commonly found red-shafted Northern Flicker (male).\u00a0 Photo taken at Upper Oso Reservoir, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on February 18, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Northern Flicker is a stunning woodpecker species.\u00a0 They are common in Orange County and can be heard calling and perhaps singing throughout the year though moreso in winter months.\u00a0 They are easily distinguishable with their black polka dot chest … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,17,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oc-birding-locales","category-perching-birds","category-woodpeckers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Rhss-By","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2328"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2721,"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions\/2721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbirds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}