[Birdtalk] A Yellow-shafted Mystery

[Colby Neuman]

Kris and others,

The red-shafted and yellow-shafted races of the Northern Flicker are known
to 'hybridize' extensively where their ranges overlap.  I never actually
looked through the specimens, but I remember the Lab of O museum had
hundreds of flickers that were collected west-east across Kansas (or one of
the Plains states).  If I remember correctly, one of my birding buddies told
me that on the west side of Kansas, the birds phenotypically appeared like
normal 'Red-shafted' Flickers.  As birds were collected across Kansas, the
birds gradually picked up phenotypic traits associated with 'Yellow-shafted'
Flickers.  Eventually, by the far eastern end of the state, the birds
completely appear phenotypically like 'Yellow-shafted' Flickers.  I don't
know what traits from each subspecies were typically observed in the hybrid
zone, and I also don't know if the genotypes of any of these birds were
studied.

Kris, I think it's completely reasonable that you observed what you did...in
retrospect, it would be interesting to find out if it's an F1, F2 or later
cross that created the hybrid you observed...if that's at all possible.

Colby

On 10/8/06, kristinpurdy at comcast.net <kristinpurdy at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I need help solving a yellow-shafted flicker mystery. For the second time
> in 3 weeks, I saw a flicker today that really grabbed my attention. The bird
> was clearly, strongly, undeniably yellow-shafted. However, its head did not
> show the markings of a Yellow-shafted Flicker.
>
> The bird's head was marked like that of a female Red-shafted Flicker. In
> other words, both a red or black malar stripe and a red nape crescent were
> absent. The body, however, was marked like a Yellow-shafted Flicker--strong,
> bright yellow under the tail and yellow under the wings when the bird flew.
> And I got a good look at the yellow color.
>
> If I didn't know Gilded Flickers don't occur in Northern Utah I'd be
> sounding the midnight bark, as my husband says; informing birding friends by
> phone of the rare bird. But due to the possibility of a hybrid, I'm simply
> raising the question.
>
> Yellow-shafted Flickers in juvenal plumage show the malar stripe and nape
> crescent, so I ruled out the possibility that this could be a young bird
> that hasn't yet gained the "regular" colors. So...what did I see?
>
> I got two good looks at the bird, separated by a strafe of the flicker by
> my first MERLIN of the year. The flicker stayed in the area, though, so I
> was able to relocate it and look again. What I didn't know to look for was
> the subtleties of barring on the back and lower belly/legs and face color
> that Gilded Flickers show. I do remember that the bird appeared to have a
> brownish malar marking similar to the crown color as female Red-shafted
> Flickers have.
>
> If you have any ideas about this/these birds, please reply.
>
> I've hatched another theory about the presence of Yellow-shafted Flickers
> or hybrids in the Weber and Davis communities between I-15 and the
> lake--that there are higher numbers of these birds there. A couple years
> ago, Bruce Robinson's son saw one out in Hooper and a colleage of mine saw
> one in West Weber around the same time. My two recent sightings have been in
> Clinton and Farr West.
>
> Kris
>
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