Northern Flickers in Illinois

Northern Flickers live in Illinois all year. Cold, windy winters in the north; the southern tip is milder and hosts more wintering species. 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.

Humid continental, grading from the Lake Michigan shore and prairie north to the forested Shawnee Hills in the south.

Across Illinois, flickers typically nest from April–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.

Hot, humid summers; much of the state is farmland, so backyard native plantings matter.

• Have boxes cleaned and mounted before March — 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 Illinois, 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 Illinois's winter: Cold, windy winters in the north; the southern tip is milder and hosts more wintering species.

Full diet breakdown for flickers · Best feeder for flickers