Northern Flickers in Arizona

Northern Flickers live in Arizona all year. Low deserts stay mild and host many wintering sparrows and hummingbirds; the high country gets snow. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward poison ivy, dogwood, sumac and bayberry fruit.

Hot Sonoran and Mojave deserts in the south and west, with pine-oak sky islands and the Colorado Plateau rising above 7,000 ft.

Across Arizona, flickers typically nest from March–June. Nest site: excavated cavity in dead or soft trees and utility poles. Females lay 5–8 eggs, incubate for 11–13 days, and young leave the nest after 24–27 days.

Summer highs above 110°F in Phoenix and Tucson make water the single strongest attractant; the July monsoon triggers a second breeding pulse.

• Have boxes cleaned and mounted before February — flickers begin prospecting ahead of egg-laying.
• Use a 2 1/2 in entrance on a 7 × 7 in floor, mounted 6–20 ft.
• Fit a pole baffle or hole guard; ventilation gaps and drainage holes are essential.
• Clean out old nests after each brood and again after June.

Of the regional native plants we track for Arizona, these 8 provide food or cover flickers use:

Flickers feed on lawns more than any other woodpecker and will use nest boxes packed with wood chips.

• Best foods: Suet, Peanut hearts.
• In Arizona's winter: Low deserts stay mild and host many wintering sparrows and hummingbirds; the high country gets snow.

Full diet breakdown for flickers · Best feeder for flickers