On Friday, December 5, 2025 at 03:06:52 PM MST, Josh Bruening <87211jjb...> wrote:
Ron,
Your bird is a Northern Flicker. The spots on the side rather than barring and red malar are slam dunks. To me, all pictures look like the same bird. You asked for photos so here are two of my (not so great) photos from my back yard in Fort Collins. This is a melanistic Northern Flicker. I included a pic from that same morning with a "regular" Northern Flicker along with the melanistic one. The difference between the two was striking and I wish I would have gotten better pics. Though you can't see it in these pics because I was unable to capture it, the bird's back was very dark and not what you would normally expect from a Flicker.Photo quality/chimney soot/melanism, and other myriad circumstances can all be reasons why a common bird would suddenly look exotic. I hope these help.
Josh BrueningFort Collins
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 5, 2025, at 1:48 PM, Ron W <ourwildplaces...> wrote:
Reasons Lewis's isn't a good fit for this bird:
Observed behavior. They are usually observed high in trees rather than foraging near the base.
In full light, I think I would have seen green on its back. This bird appeared black to the eye. In my experience, Lewis's can look black, but not in full sun.
The bird in question had a shorter tail.
340 younger Lewis's photos:https://media.ebird.org/catalog?birdOnly=true&taxonCode=lewwoo&mediaType=photo&sort=rating_rank_desc&age=juvenile,immature
On Friday, December 5, 2025 at 2:28:02 PM UTC-7 Paula Hansley wrote:
I think that immature Lewis ‘s Woodpecker is a very good possibility. The size and proportions don’t look right for a Williamson’s Sapsucker.
Paula HansleyLouisville
On Fri, Dec 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM Mars Atchison <marsatc......> wrote:
I don't necessarily think it is one, but is there a reason no one is considering an odd looking juvenile Lewis's?
On Fri, Dec 5, 2025, 1:45 PM Caoimhín Perkins <ksper......> wrote:
It’s little hard to tell but these do look more like spots than in the other photos. I do not see any red personally but taking another look at this photo is interesting.
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