Northern Flicker “I’m not ready to go…”

A Northern Flicker fledged with a little help from his sister. Is she laughing after she gives him the shove-off? He flew well for about 100 feet to a tree branch, followed by dad to check on him. Sister fledged about 2 minutes later, followed by mom. I was extremely lucky to witness this event, as I had just gotten the iPhone and scope set up to capture whatever was happening at the nest box.

The other 2 or 3 siblings fledged the following morning. It was hard to tell how many nestlings were inside since they were constantly jostling for position at the hole in order to be the first to be fed when mom or dad came around.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology