A NORTHERN FLICKER Taps on a Mailbox

A red-headed Northern Flicker woodpecker, ready to tap on a mailbox. The bird can just be seen inside the yellow circle (there is a CLOSE UP PHOTO BELOW).

I first noticed it last Spring.

I was riding my bicycle down a street in my neighborhood and heard a strange noise.

It sounded like somebody was tapping a stick on metal: Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!!

It was 6 a.m., and few people were up and about. No one would be doing carpentry work at that hour!

I heard the noise again, and I looked in the direction the noise was coming from. It was a woodpecker -- the Northern Flicker. It was tapping on a metal street sign. I thought that was very odd. When I got home I looked up information on flickers in one of my bird books -- and flickers will tap on metal objects to mark their territory during the early Spring.

A close up shot of the Flicker waiting to tap on the mailbox. Amazingly, my presence did not scare him away.

Last Spring, I noticed three different Northern Flickers, tapping on certain street signs and metal chimney flues -- each flicker was about a block away from the other ones.

This Spring, I've only noticed one Flicker. He likes to tap on a mailbox. In fact, I've seen him tapping on the same exact mailbox on three separate mornings.

Another picture of the Flicker ready to tap away on the side of the mailbox.

I managed to take several photos of him tapping on the mailbox. The ones I've posted here are the best of them.

 In this picture you can just see the Flicker's body below the mailbox on the right. He was tapping away on the back of the mailbox when I took the photo.

If you look closely, you can see the bird and his red head, next to one of the mailboxes, and in another photo you can see the bird's tail.

A shot of me taken later that day. It was 75 degrees out (23C) and summery weather.

Here in Western Washington we only have two woodpeckers that are very common: the Northern Flicker is the one you see and hear the most. Another woodpecker, the Pileated Woodpecker, is pretty rare -- I've only seen one of those once.

When I was younger, I never liked the idea of bird watching. But the last two Springs and Summers I've noticed a lot of birds. I usually hear them before I see them -- and often, I only hear them, because they're hiding in some bushes or tree branches somewhere.

Do woodpeckers tap on mailboxes where you live?