Twisted Flicker

The Northern Flickers are back in northwest Oregon. After their normal brief early summer absence, single birds are now beginning to be seen in the area. This is the time of year when they tend to spend more time on the ground feeding on ants, however occasionally they will still be seen visiting feeders.

While the flicker in this image may look to be either injured or suffering from a severe crick in the neck, it is actually perfectly fine. Birds have more vertebrae in their necks than most other animals – from thirteen to twenty-five depending upon the species in question (humans only have seven). As each vertebra in the neck of most any animal can only be rotated a certain limited amount, having more of these bones in the neck allows for greater rotation of the head. Having so many vertebrae in their necks allows birds to twist their heads quite far around, completely backward at times, in order to use their beaks to preen hard-to-reach feathers.