Date: 12/6/25 7:18 pm From: Eric DeFonso <bay.wren...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Re: Unknown Woodpecker, Montrose Colorado, Dec 04 25
Your doubt is understandable, to be sure. Just remember that even
melanistic Northern Flickers are only known about because at some point
someone saw them without having seen one before at that location. :)
My intent in sharing these melanistic flicker shots was not to imply that
your bird was one of these 4 individuals. Rather it was to show that, given
the range of appearances of melanism in flickers even among a small sample,
this explanation is still within the realm of possibility given the
admittedly poor resolution in the provided images of the bird in your yard.
In my view, I just can't see how melanistic NOFL can be categorically ruled
out based on the photos. As unusual as that is, it's still far more likely
than a Black-backed Woodpecker at this location. Especially when
definitive BBWO traits are not really visible here.
For the sake of citizen science, one suggestion I have is to change the
eBird record from Black-backed Woodpecker to woodpecker sp. That way, it
would pass eBird review and the images could then be in the publicly
viewable database going forward, as a useful scientific record. Then, if a
dark woodpecker does reappear in the area someday and is well-observed,
your existing record could be used as reference for it too, and maybe
greater understanding of this phenomenon could arise. You could still state
in the comments/description that for now you believe this is a BBWO for the
stated reasons, and from a reviewer's perspective that would be fine, even
if they didn't personally agree. All parties can agree here that there's a
woodpecker in the pictures! And by being publicly viewable, it keeps
birders in your area and statewide more on the lookout for either BBWO or
melanistic NOFL.
Eric
-------
Eric DeFonso
Boulder County, CO
On Sat, Dec 6, 2025 at 7:45 PM Ron W <ourwildplaces...> wrote:
> Great finds Eric. Many have found interest in this bird. Whatever it is,
> it's rare at least in some way for this location. As mentioned, I've
> walked this area for over two years and not seen this bird, so this adds to
> my doubt that it's a resident Northern Flicker.
> You can see from these images of melanistics, that if shot in direct
> sunlight from the back, they will not mirror the bird in my report.
> Note the detail my zoomed in phone captured in the tree bark, it would
> have easily registered the variation on the back of any Northern Flicker.
>
> There are often more than a couple of woodpeckers in these trees together,
> as a friend at a nearby residence feeds heavily, to say that they often
> have up to a hundred ground birds along their fence. Flicker come to their
> feeders as they do mine, and if this is a very rare Flicker occurrence, I
> feel I'll very likely see it again.
>
>
> On Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 6:54:39 PM UTC-7 Eric DeFonso wrote:
>
>> Because I find this really interesting regardless of the ID (FWIW, I too
>> am in the "flicker camp"), I briefly searched for aberrant plumaged
>> Northern Flickers in the Macaulay Library, and quickly found four
>> interesting shots, which I'm linking to here. (There may be many more in
>> the library, these are just ones I came across with a more targeted search.)
>>
>> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/299920271 >> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/189692901 >> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/36307531 >> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/189693021 >>
>> Three of these pics are from Bountiful, UT, spread over 6 years.
>>
>> In the case of that 4th link, what I find interesting is that even a
>> melanistic flicker can show a fairly light underside, which jibes with what
>> I see in the phone-pics. Before this, I wasn't even aware of melanism in
>> flickers, so the sharing of this sighting is still enlightening to me.
>>
>> Eric
>>
>> -------
>> Eric DeFonso
>> Boulder County, CO
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Dec 6, 2025 at 4:50 PM Ron W <ourwil......> wrote:
>>
>>> If it's a Flicker, then it will likely remain in the area, and I'll no
>>> doubt see it again. If it's not, then I likely won't. I walk this route
>>> 365 days of the year. Of course, I'll also still welcome an image of a
>>> similar Northern Flicker, as mentioned before.
>>>
>>> Thanks all.
>>>
>>> On Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 4:35:18 PM UTC-7 David Suddjian wrote:
>>>
>>>> CoBirders,
>>>>
>>>> Unless there is something of substance to add or a point that has not
>>>> already been made, I recommend we please now end this CoBirds thread. The
>>>> eBird reviewer can evaluate the report for the eBird public record, and the
>>>> observer can do what he likes with it as far as his personal records are
>>>> concerned.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> David Suddjian
>>>> CoBirds list moderator
>>>> Littleton, CO
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Dec 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM 'Woodcreeper29' via Colorado Birds <
>>>> <cob......> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Submit it to the records committee. Colorado will still have no
>>>>> accepted record of BBWO!
>>>>> Steve Larson
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>
>>>>> On Dec 6, 2025, at 4:15 PM, Ron W <ourwil......> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> No one in Flicker Camp has shown me an example image of the species
>>>>> with a uniform dark back from tail to head. You lightened the photo and it
>>>>> still doesn't look like one. The bird was smaller than a Northern Flicker,
>>>>> and black. the head still looks black even with you lightening it.
>>>>> Furthermore, the underside of the bird is dusty white. The image you
>>>>> linked to is a male Black-backed, which has distinctive barring yes, but
>>>>> the female's can be nearly absent from this angle and there are images
>>>>> showing this.
>>>>>
>>>>> If this is so easily a Northern Flicker then we would have seen a link
>>>>> to one, similarly in full sun, from behind, looking just like this bird.
>>>>> Show me that bird and I'll consider changing my mind.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Ron
>>>>>
>>>>> On Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 3:49:40 PM UTC-7 Tony Leukering wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> All:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The bird in question is certainly a Northern Flicker and, perhaps,
>>>>>> identifiable as a Red-shafted Flicker. I lightened a screen grab of one of
>>>>>> the photos and, with no other alterations, present it below. The upperparts
>>>>>> are brownish, the nape and crown are noticeably grayer, the sides are white
>>>>>> with dark spotting, and the whitish rump contrasts strongly with the dark
>>>>>> tail.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [image: NOFL-not-BBWO.jpg]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As can be seen on the bird here
>>>>>> <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/326303601>, Black-backed
>>>>>> Woodpeckers entirely lack white on the upper side of the body (excluding
>>>>>> tail), so that white rump rules that species out. Additionally, the
>>>>>> extensively white side to the bird is not a feature of Black-backed, which
>>>>>> has the sides so heavily barred (see here
>>>>>> <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/615176281>) that in relatively
>>>>>> poor views (such as on your bird), the birds look dark-sided (see
>>>>>> here <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/646203877>).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In my extensive birding experience in Michigan, New York, California,
>>>>>> and Montana, I've seen many, many Black-backed Woodpeckers, so I
>>>>>> immediately recognized the subject of the checklist's photos as not a
>>>>>> Black-backed. I've also seen 10s of 1000s of Northern Flickers, and your
>>>>>> bird struck me immediately as one.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You're welcome to reject my advice (as you have that of others), as
>>>>>> it's no skin off my back.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Tony Leukering
>>>>>> Denver
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Friday, December 5, 2025 at 10:53:03 AM UTC-7 Ron W wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hello all, as my field report states :
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Roughly 9" with a short tail. In full sunlight, the bird shows no
>>>>>>> markings on its all dark back. Similarly the head is also all dark, with a
>>>>>>> possible dark red semicircle below the eye. I observed this bird from
>>>>>>> roughly 15' for around 2 minutes (equipped with only a cell phone). In that
>>>>>>> time woodpecker made no vocalizations."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 4 photos are included with the report.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S287390731 >>>>>>>
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