Previously the two were known as the red-shafted flicker and the yellow-shafted flicker. The red-shafted is the bird more commonly seen, while the yellow-shafted is seen in small numbers during ...

The yellow-shafted also have a red chevron on the back of their heads, while the red-shafted do not. There is a third sub-species called a “gilded” flicker that lives in southern California ...