colaptes (hammer, to peck with bill) chrysoides
Saturday, March 31, 1984 — 3:40 pm
Saguaro National Monument, East Unit, Arizona
When I saw this bird, it was considered con-specific with the Northern Flicker. When it was made a species in its own right (again) I decided it would be easier to add it here than to renumber my entire list.
My mom took my wife and me to Saguaro where she had spotted the Golden-crowned Sparrow earlier in the year. While we were feeding cookie crumbs to the White-crowned Sparrows, the Golden-crowned, and a variety of squirrels, I spotted the Gilded Flicker.
It was perched on the side of a saguaro in the picnic area, in a hilly, rocky saguaro forest with a lot of scrub and prickly pear cactus.