![](https://marty-essen.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Northern-Flicker-1000x667.jpg)
Marty’s photo of the day #4818: Never in my life have I seen a higher concentration of northern flickers than I did while visiting the American Prairie earlier this month. The birds especially loved the huge cottonwood trees surrounding the yurt my wife and I rented. The young flicker in this photo wasn’t yet ready to fly. We were careful not to touch it, but the longer it stayed on the ground, the better chance a coyote or some other animal had of finding it. I’d like to think the bird made it. But if not, predators are equally valuable—and they need to eat. Photographed in the American Prairie (formerly the American Prairie Reserve), Montana.