"Flicker Dance"

     The Northern Flicker is a common and widespread breeder throughout the state of Connecticut. They can be found in a variety of habitats such as open forests, semi-open country, suburban neighborhoods and urban parks.

     Flickers have unusual feeding habits, especially for a woodpecker. They spend a great deal of time on the ground foraging and probing for ants, a key component of their diet.   

     Early last spring, I had the opportunity to photograph these ground feeding woodpeckers at Keney Park in Hartford. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on this particular morning, birds were well-spaced, their bills stuck into the dirt and focused solely on ants. The flickers stayed busy, I continued to take photos. Suddenly, without any provocation, two of the birds flew over to one another and met face-to-face. With bills held slightly upward, they began to bob and weave in a comical dance, flashing their yellow tail feathers at each other.

     What type of odd behavior was I observing? According to the Birds of North America Online, it is a combination of territory establishment, pair formation and nest-site selection. I noticed something else odd as I looked over my photos from my morning visit; there were two females dancing! What I was surprised to learn is that both sexes defend nest trees and mates aggressively. Below are some of my photographs from Keney Park as well as a professional description of this incredible dance behavior from the Birds of North America Online.   

Both sexes defend nest trees and mates aggressively. Agonistic behavior is highly ritualized in flicker “dance” (Fig. 6). Typically, 2 birds of same sex pair off in mock “fencing duels,” using their bills as “foils,” while a member of the opposite sex looks on. This dance is prevalent during early phases of the breeding cycle (territory establishment, pair formation, and nest-site selection), but is also seen infrequently and at lower intensities at other times (Short 1982). Displays that comprise the dance are clearly agonistic (Noble 1936) and function in territorial defense, but territorial establishment and pair formation are so integrated in flickers that these displays may also play a role in pair formation; this remains poorly understood.Typically, 2 birds of the same sex face one another on a branch with their bills held at a slightly upward angle (about 30° from horizontal). Each bird quickly swings its head back and forth and bobs it up and down, such that the bill appears to trace a circular or Figure-8 pattern in the air (Kilham 1959, Lawrence 1966, Short 1972). The swinging and bobbing give the appearance of a mechanically animated toy, and are usually accompanied by in-rhythm Wicka Calls from both dancers. The red nuchal patch is usually erected in Yellow-shafted Flickers. Intensity of the dances varies greatly: the dance of 2 birds (same sex) is likely to have relatively low intensity and may even be silent, but the arrival of a third bird (opposite sex) immediately intensifies both the dance and the Wicka accompaniment. In very intense interactions, which are common, the dancers flick their wings and spread or rotate their tails such that the yellow, or red, ventral surfaces of the flight feathers are clearly visible to the opponent. Bursts of dancing and Wicka-calling might last 5–10 s, followed by a 30-s period of quiescence, followed by another burst of dancing where all participants seem compelled to join in. Bouts may last nearly half an hour (but usually are shorter) and may be joined and rejoined over a period of many hours. We have observed sustained series of dance bouts go on essentially all day, involving the same participants. Variation in the dance is substantial: the apparent context, number of participants, location, intensity, duration, whether the wings and tail are spread, whether Wickas accompany animation, pattern traced by bill, etc., can all vary. No data are available that demonstrate the range of variation or its meaning.

"Dancing duels" often do not result in physical contact but instead one bird simply flies away. If one bird does not fly away after many minutes of dancing, the two rivals may peck and claw at each other and perhaps end up in a rolling fight on the ground (KLW). This usually results in a long period of one bird chasing the other, displacing it from perch to perch in short flights until eventually the "loser" flies away out of apparent exhaustion.