I found a Northern Flicker nest cavity back on June 1 of this year in Waukesha County. The adults were stopping at the cavity once in a while; I knew something was going to be going on there in the days ahead. Some time has passed and today I stopped in and watched the cavity and about every 45 minutes an adult would stop and feed the nestlings, 2 of them. I hung around for two feeding sessions. I was at more than 100 feet from this tree observing the action. Below are some images from the event today. It was a warm morning with temps around 80 degrees and humid at 9 am, low winds and sunny skies. Images were taken on July 5, 2025.
A Northern Flicker nestling waits at the natural tree cavity for an adult with some food…
The adult arrives at the hole and waits a little bit before moving over to the nestling to feed it…
Then the feeding begins…
Finished feeding the 1st nestling…
Then the second one is out to be fed…
The adult backs away from the hole as feeding is complete I would think…
Another feeding event begins…
That feeding event is over and the adult leaves…
One of the nestlings sits at the hole waiting for the next adult to bring the food…
Excellent commentary with photos.
as always, I delighted in your photos – especially healing for me after finding a probable-Red-bellied Woodpecker nestling dead out on my road yesterday – a heartbreaker, so it helped my heart to see a species surviving so well –
Great shots Jim!
I so enjoy your beautiful photographs and descriptions.
Great, both the shots and the dialogue.
Beautiful as always thanks for sharing
What a great find! Thanks for sharing!