A one-second break

A beautiful Northern Flicker hybrid, stopping long enough to briefly turn its head away from the cavity it was busy making. He's using his tail for balance. Photographed at Carburn Park on March 3rd.

Words from a local naturalist, that were made about a previously-posted Northern Flicker, that explain what a hybrid looks like:

"This photo shows characteristics common to the Northern Flickers in the Calgary area. All of our birds are basically hybrids between the western Red-shafted and the eastern Yellow-shafted forms.

This bird is a male, indicated by the moustache or malar stripe. This is normally red in the western form and black in the eastern form. Both colours occur on this bird.

The yellow shafts of the eastern form are plainly visible in the wing of this birds. Also characteristice of the Yellow-shafted is the red nape patch. Uncharacteristic is the gray throat, typical of the western form. The markings around the eye, while most like the western form, are more exaggerated."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_flicker/id/ac

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Flicker