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. They also eat worms, insects, and berries. Flickers belong to the woodpecker family, Picidae. The scientific name for the red-shafted flicker is Coloptes auratus cafer. The yellow-shafted flicker is C. auratus auratus.