Intraspecific Brood Parasitism in the Northern Flicker

Abstract

Although intraspecific brood parasitism is common in many bird species, including several secondary cavity-nesting birds, it does not appear to have been reported in woodpeckers. We report a case of intraspecific brood parasitism in the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) in which six to eight eggs were dumped into the host nest box during a 2- to 3-week period. We estimate that the host female laid a clutch of 8 to 10 eggs, and at the end of the nestling period we confirmed that 16 flicker eggs had been laid in the nest box. This instance of egg-dumping by a floater female or another resident female in the same territory or on an adjacent territory, could have been facilitated by a lack of suitable nest sites in the area coupled with intense nest-site competition from European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).