The VINS Wildlife Services department has become a temporary home to 10 young northern flickers, a type of woodpecker. The birds came from two separate cavity nests, and as you will see in our video, the brood is causing quite a stir!This time of year, a lot of people are getting yard work done, clearing trees and removing brush. What else is happening this time of year? Birds are building nests and having babies in those trees and brush!
That’s why it is so important you check a tree for nests before you cut it down. Babies can be injured or die when a tree falls (or their nest falls), and parents may fly off and abandon babies that do survive. In the case of the flickers, two trees with cavity nests (holes in the trees that the birds use as nesting sites) were cut down, and the babies were unable to be re-nested and re-united with their parents.
If you do cut down a tree with a nest in it, call your local wildlife rehabilitator for advice. The birds may need to be seen for an examine, but sometimes you can re-nest the babies.
Lucky for these flickers, the VINS Wildlife team will continue to care for these babies until they’re ready to go it alone in the wild.
how cute are they!!!! I love flickers!