Flicker (Gilded)

A large and common woodpecker of the saguaro cactus forests of the Sonoran Desert, the Gilded Flicker has the gray face and red moustache of the "red-shafted" form of the Northern Flicker, but the yellow wings of the "yellow-shafted" form.

A study reported that European Starlings had no effect on the nesting success of the Gilded Flicker in saguaro cactus, even though the two birds compete for nest holes.

Starlings did negatively affect the Gila Woodpecker, perhaps because they were able to displace the smaller woodpecker. The larger and more aggressive Gilded Flicker may have been better able to compete for holes.

photographed in the wild in Pheonix, AZ