Many males show mixed red and black malars. Examples include a вЂњtypicalвЂќ red-shafted with 1 or more yellow wing feathers and/or a touch of red on the nape, or a вЂњtypicalвЂќ yellow-shafted with gray in the face or throat, 1 or more red wing feathers, and/or the absence of the red nape crescent. Introgressant individuals that combine characters of both groups are widely seen they general resemble the yellow-shafted or the red-shafted group but show 1 or more characters of the other group. The red-shafted has a grayish head and throat with pale brown on the forecrown and loral region, lacks red on the nape, and has paler buff to creamy underparts with broader chest crescent the flight feathers and underwing linings are salmon pink. The flight feathers and underwing linings are golden yellow. The yellow-shafted has a gray crown with a red crescent on the nape, a tan face and throat, and rich buff underparts with a relatively narrow chest crescent. Adult: sexes are similar, but males have a malar mark (red in the вЂњred-shafted,вЂќ black in the вЂњyellow-shaftedвЂќ) that is lacking in females. All northern flickers are pale buffy white to rich buff below with black spotting and have brown to gray-brown backs with black barring. Length 12'.ДЄll northern flickers show a bold black chest crescent, a white rump, and bright color (salmon-red or yellow) in the shafts and much of the vanes of the flight feathers and on the underwing coverts. Yellow-winged eastern and boreal birds (вЂњyellow-shafted flickersвЂќ) and salmon- or red-winged western and Mexican birds (вЂњred-shafted flickersвЂќ) differ in plumage but interbreed extensively in the Great Plains, with birds showing combined or intermediate characters seen widely across the continent. This familiar large woodpecker and the closely related gilded flicker show flashy color in the wings and a bold white rump in flight.

Northern flicker feather