Flickers

Here are a couple of flicker images that I've been working on. We used to call them yellowhammers as kids, and according to Wikipedia there's an interesting history to the name.

But, of course, these were the yellow-shafted variety as opposed to the red-shafted or northern flicker that I have depicted here.




Alabama Yellowhammers

"Under its local name "Yellowhammer", the Yellow-shafted Flicker is the state bird of Alabama.[1]
Alabama has been known as the "Yellowhammer State" since the American Civil War. The yellowhammer nickname was applied to the Confederate soldiers from Alabama when a company of young cavalry soldiers from Huntsville, under the command of Rev. D.C. Kelly, arrived at Hopkinsville, KY, where Gen. Forrest's troops were stationed. The officers and men of the Huntsville company wore fine, new uniforms, whereas the soldiers who had long been on the battlefields were dressed in faded, worn uniforms. On the sleeves, collars and coattails of the new cavalry troop were bits of brilliant yellow cloth. As the company rode past Company A , Will Arnett cried out in greeting "Yellowhammer, Yellowhammer, flicker, flicker!" The greeting brought a roar of laughter from the men and from that moment the Huntsville soldiers were spoken of as the "yellowhammer company." The term quickly spread throughout the Confederate Army and all Alabama troops were referred to unofficially as the "Yellowhammers."
When the Confederate Veterans in Alabama were organized they took pride in being referred to as the "Yellowhammers" and wore a yellowhammer feather in their caps or lapels during reunions."