Flicker

[lokidog]

So, I'm driving to work today and I see something on the side of the road.  As I pass by, my thought was little owl, maybe hit by a car.  I get out and walk back to it to discover this little headless bird, WTH?  Oh, guess he's just sleeping....  After a few pictures, he gets bored and tucks his head back in to resume his nap.  I wake him again to see if he is hurt.  I pick him up and he sits calmly on my hand, but before I can snap a photo, he flies away.

Enjoy the photos taken with my cell phone.

[Widgeondeke]

Very cool.
Hope it learns to fly soon or will become dinner for something

[Alchase]

I have never seen a baby Flicker, that is cool!

Here is a couple of the Flickers that visit my feeders.

[YellowDog]

Hey Lokidog, about how big was the litter guy? The reason I ask is that two winters ago I thought I a had an owl spending several days a week in the wave of my house. He tucked his head in a corner and would ignore me. He was tiny..about the size of a baseball when all puffed up. It was February and cold outside but obviously warmer under the wave near an attic vent. Seeing your pictures makes me think it was a baby flicker based on coloring, tail feathers, and the look of his feet. Seemed like the wrong time of year for such a baby flicker though.

It might explain why I had to fight an epic non lethal battle with flickers trying to destroy my house siding this spring though.

[lokidog]

Baseball to girl's softball sized.  Probably a flicker unless you had a good flat area for an owl to sit.  Flickers can hang/sleep vertically with very little for their claws to hook.  I think owls perch more than hang because of the shape of their feet.

We battled the flickers at my old house as well.

[runamuk]

what a cute little guy wonder if he got bonked and stunned?

 I had a flicker finally kill itself after going into my shop and whamming the window...not once or twice but a daily event for a week that ended with its death....all the other birds managed to go out the giant doors not the flicker he/she would freak the heck out and slam into the window, flighty.