Say hello to Phoenix’s Gilded Flicker

We added a new friend to our back yard bird list, the Gilded Flicker, a type of woodpecker. We already knew about our Gila Woodpeckers, and also the more common Northern Flicker, but the Gilded Flicker really stood out. See those beautiful yellow/gold feathers? And the little patches of red on the cheeks? Gorgeous.

Here’s the current list of our backyard birds, in alphabetical order by scientific name, as of July 2017. (Cactus Wren wins the contest for best name.) We live in the Moon Valley neighborhood of Phoenix, in the north-central part of the city.

• Accipiter cooperii – Cooper’s Hawk
• Agapornis roseicollis – Rosy-Faced / Peach-Faced Lovebirds
• Archilochus alexandri – Black-Chinned Hummingbird
• Auriparus flaviceps) – Verdin
• Bubo virginianus – Great Horned Owl
• Buteo jamaicensis – Red-Tailed Hawk
• Callipepla gambelii – Gambel’s Quail
• Calypte anna – Anna’s Hummingbird
• Calypte costae – Costa’s Hummingbird
• Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus – Cactus Wren
• Cardinalis cardinalis – Northern Cardinal
• Colaptes auratus – Northern Flicker
• Colaptes chrysoides – Gilded Flicker
• Columbina inca – Inca Dove
• Columba livia – Common Pigeon / Rock Dove
• Geococcyx californianus – Greater Roadrunner
• Haemorhous mexicanus – House Finch
• Melanerpes uropygialis – Gila Woodpecker
• Mimus polyglottos – Northern Mockingbird
• Passer domesticus – House Sparrow
• Pipilo aberti – Abert’s Towhee
• Spinus psaltria – Lesser Goldfinch
• Spinus tristis – American Goldfinch
• Sturnus vulgaris – Common Starling
• Toxostoma curvirostre – Curve-Billed Thrasher
• Zenaida asiatica – White-Winged Dove
• Zenaida macroura – Mourning Dove
• Zonotrichia atricapilla – Gold-Crowned Sparrow
• Zonotrichia leucophrys – White-Crowned Sparrow