Yes indeed they do have barring on the head; a red stripe at the base of the rear skull on the Northern Flicker and below and forward of the eye on the Yellow-Shafted Flicker.

Not to put to fine of a point on it but if you will look at the picture of the picture and a picture of an actual flicker of either species you will see that an actual flicker is not anything like the artists rendering. Now as for the "clapper rail" the one in the picture is again not plumaged like the actual bird but does have the conformation and bill color.He did use actual flicker feathers in his art work but the clapper rail does not have a speculum like the one shown.

All you have to do is "google" the birds' names and click on "images" to see what the things look like in a bunch of different postures and angles.

I've got one of these that's a blue wing teal and I've seen another that was a pair of snipe. These are cool, I love this sort thing.

Destry

Yes, you are putting too fine a point on it. Either Audubon's "Birds of North America" renderings of the various seasonal plumages on both of these species is completely wrong, or the coloration of the various carvings of both of these I have on the shelves of my gunroom wall are bogus as well. Artists' interpretations of seasonal plumages of birds vary widely depending on whether they are painting from a photograph or drawing, or if they are using a freshly-killed specimen as a model. The light bounce off both these pictures is deceptive; the Clapper rail looks as if it is missing its left wing, and the right wing appears to be bent back, rotating the speculum to the rear. There is no mistaking either species; the color patterns are genuine if not the placement and contrasting plumage.

The head of a flicker does not have the barring on the head shown in the picture. He was making an interpretation of a flicker and not an actual bird.That was my point. His rendering is not what the actual bird looks like in life.Bird watching is all about nuance in identifying many species and I have been watching birds for over 50 years in several states and 4 countries.Some birds look a lot alike but the "clapper" and "flicker" ,as depicted by the artist, do not exist.

Yes it does have barring on the head; a flicker is an "actual bird". How he chooses to depict it is his pictures is a choice of expressionism. I have been killing birds for 49 years in ME, NH, VT, NY, DE, MD, VA, ND, SD, WA, MT, KS, OH, IO, TX, Scotland and Argentina. Clappers and flickers do exist, just not like he depicted them. So there!

Kevin! Show me a picture with barring on the head of a flicker. The marks on the nape do not count.

Thanks for the info. I am learning a lot. I hung them up today in my office and I really like the looks. Here are a few more pictures I thought I would share. I may just need to try and find a way to shoot some of these birds some day.


http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/DSCF0260.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/DSCF0259.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/DSCF0259.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/DSCF0257.jpg

The yellowlegs and flicker could be tough, since they've both been off the list for so long. But the rails are possible, I've shot them down in Virginia with what's probably the only family of black hunting guides left in the US.


Destry