A Beautiful Bird
I know that not everyone loves birds as much as I do. But, look at this beautiful Northern (Yellow-Shafted) Flicker. I first saw this bird in my yard in February during one of the milder days that we had in the middle of all of the freezing weather. For at least 15 minutes, it sat in the front yard and ate and ate — ants, I’m assuming.

Later in the spring, I saw several of these birds again. Now, Jon got me a bird guide as one of my birthday presents this year, so after observing with my binoculars, I determined that this bird was the Flicker. It was easy to identify because of the brilliant yellow under its wings and tail that you can see easily when it flies.

Now, here comes the funny part. My 2nd oldest son is very interested in animals and he is already quite a researcher. So do you know what he told me? That this bird is also called the Yellowhammer. Anybody know why that is funny? Because, dear reader, the Yellowhammer is the state bird of Alabama. Yep. That’s right. This bird-loving Alabama girl had to come all the way to Missouri to see a Yellowhammer — and even then she didn’t know what she was looking at.

It is a gorgeous bird, though. Whoever decided it should be the state bird of Alabama made a good decision.