Northern Flickers in New Mexico

Northern Flickers live in New Mexico all year. Cold nights and sunny days; many desert and mountain birds move to lower elevations. 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.

Arid to semi-arid, with Chihuahuan desert in the south and mountain forest above 7,000 ft.

Across New Mexico, 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, dry early summer followed by the July–August monsoon.

• 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 New Mexico, 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 New Mexico's winter: Cold nights and sunny days; many desert and mountain birds move to lower elevations.

Full diet breakdown for flickers · Best feeder for flickers