NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Flicker
Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Northern flicker, northern yellow-shafted flickr subspecies, Colaptes auratus luteus, male
Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The northern flicker or common flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer (not to be confused with the Eurasian yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)), clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls.
Wikipedia contributors, Northern flicker; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:29:51.105901+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Northern Flicker
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Colaptes
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- subfamilyPicinae
- genusColaptes Vigors, 1825
- speciesColaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Colaptes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Andean FlickerColaptes rupicola d'Orbigny, 1840 | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bronze-winged WoodpeckerColaptes aeruginosus (Malherbe, 1862) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-olive WoodpeckerColaptes rubiginosus (Swainson, 1820) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-necked WoodpeckerColaptes atricollis (Malherbe, 1850) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gilded FlickerColaptes chrysoides (Malherbe, 1852) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Green-barred WoodpeckerColaptes melanochloros (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chilean FlickerColaptes pitius (Molina, 1782) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Middle America
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=178154 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:WX2M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.