A loud wick wick wick wick wick, etc. Flicker is the name of several species of woodpeckers that live in North America and South America. Both are subspecies of the northern flicker. The male has a red mark on each cheek, and both sexes have bright red underwings. This bird is also called the golden-winged woodpecker and the yellowhammer.
Flickers build their nests in holes that they dig in trees with their bills.
Because of this habit, people sometimes call the bird the highhole or highholder. The female flicker lays 3 to 10 white eggs. Both parents care for the eggs and young. Flickers find much of their food on the ground. They feed chiefly on ants.