Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus collaris) 28 January 2007 - Banning Park, Wilmington, Los Angeles County, California. Photo © 2007 Joseph Morlan

This fairly large woodpecker often feeds on the ground where it is particularly fond of ants. This is a male showing the red mustache of the C.a. collaris subspecies in the "Red-shafted" Flicker group. This group was formerly regarded as a separate species, but there is a broad hybrid zone between it and the "Yellow-shafted" Flicker group to the North and East.

Olympus D-550z / Nikon FieldScope 3 / 30XWA (hand-held - no adapter).
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