Birds
Andean Flicker
Colaptes rupicola · also called Andean flickers
Digging its nest into an earthen bank rather than a tree, an Andean flicker breaks nearly every rule associated with woodpeckers, foraging for ants across open high-Andean grassland where trees are scarce and the ground offers everything it needs.
Overview
The Andean flicker, Colaptes rupicola, is a Least Concern bird native to mountain and grassland habitat across the high Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Its unusual ground-foraging lifestyle, earthen nest burrows, and tolerance for extreme high altitude make it one of the more ecologically unconventional woodpeckers found anywhere in the world.
A woodpecker that gave up on wood
Faced with a high-altitude landscape offering few trees worth excavating, the Andean flicker abandoned the wood-pecking lifestyle that defines its family entirely, digging into soil and rock instead and building a life almost completely disconnected from trees.
Status
Least Concern, remaining widespread and generally stable across suitable high-altitude habitat throughout the Andes.
Andean Flicker: common questions
Why is the Andean flicker unusual among woodpeckers?
This species spends most of its time foraging on the ground rather than on tree trunks, an unusual habit within a woodpecker family generally associated with wooded habitat.
How does the Andean flicker build its nest?
This species digs its nest burrow into earthen banks or cliffs rather than excavating a cavity in wood, a behaviour shaped by the scarcity of large trees at the high altitudes where it lives.
How high up does the Andean flicker live?
This species is found at extreme high altitude, often several thousand metres above sea level, across open terrain throughout the high Andes.
What does the Andean flicker eat?
This species is an insectivore feeding mainly on ants and other ground-dwelling insects, dug out of soil using its strong bill rather than extracted from tree bark.