This young Northern flicker is calling from the ground.

Sound like trouble?

Well, just because a young bird is on the ground doesn't necessarily mean it's sick or injured.

At this time of year, juvenile northern flickers are leaving their nests.

They fledge when they're three or four weeks old and almost as big as their parents 11 or 12 inches long.

Although you may picture a woodpecker high on a tree trunk, northern flickers, young and old, actually forage mostly on the ground.

So this young flicker, just out of its nest, is poking around in the dirt and leaf litter

looking for ants and other insects. It makes test flights and day by day

reaches higher and higher into the trees, but you'll still see it regularly. Beak down in your lawn probing for food.

The best thing you can do for the young flicker and other fledgling birds too is to give the birds some space.

And especially, keep your cats indoors.

Next spring, this bird will probably be drumming on your roof, advertising for a mate.

To learn what to do if you do find a sick or injured bird,

visit our website, bird note.

We'll help you find your local wildlife rehabilitator.

I'm Mary McCann.

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