Listening to a Continent Sing

Three northern flickers joust in the dead snags at the Quivira refuge. One in the background initially sings the wik-wik-wik song, overlapped by loud flicka-flicka-flicka calls of a second bird. Ten seconds later half-hearted flicka-flicka calls are followed by a drum, lasting a second and a half, at the rate of about 22 raps per second.

I listen well beyond this half minute: As birds in the background carry on, especially a mourning dove, American robin, and a great crested flycatcher, these three flickers fly about the tree, occasionally singing, calling, drumming, and chasing each other.

Background

Mourning dove, house wren, eastern kingbird, red-bellied woodpecker, northern bobwhite

Photo by John Van de Graaff

Photo by John Van de Graaff