![]() ![]() Colaptes comes from the Greek verb colapt, meaning "to peck" auratus is from the Latin root aurat, meaning "gold" or "golden", and refers to the bird's underwings. It has a gray cap, a beige face, and a red bar at the nape of the neck. ![]() It is yellow under the tail and underwings and has yellow shafts on its primaries. auratus) resides in the southeastern United States. The southern yellow-shafted flicker ( C.This is an example of what is referred to in science as the species problem. cafer, with six subspecies, five living and one extinct), but they commonly interbreed where their ranges overlap and are now considered one species by the American Ornithologists Union. auratus, with four subspecies) and the red-shafted flicker ( C. The extant subspecies were at one time considered subspecies of two separate species called the yellow-shafted flicker ( C. Ten subspecies are recognized, one of which is now extinct, though it may be invalid. The northern flicker is one of 13 extant New World woodpeckers now placed in the genus Colaptes that was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825 with the northern flicker ( Colaptes auratus) as the type species. The specific epithet auratus is a Latin word meaning "gilded" or "ornamented with gold". When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he included the northern flicker, coined the binomial name Cuculus auratus and cited Catesby's book. Catesby used the English name "Gold-winged Wood-pecker" and the Latin Picus major alis aureis. The English naturalist Mark Catesby described and illustrated the northern flicker in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 17. It is the state bird of Alabama (known by its colloquial name "yellowhammer.") Taxonomy Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer (not to be confused with the Eurasian yellowhammer ( Emberiza citrinella)), clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. ![]() The northern flicker or common flicker ( Colaptes auratus) is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. A male northern flicker in Roslyn, New York ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |