biology

Gilded flicker

Gilded flicker is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gilded flicker rather than just read about it. In short: The gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) is a large woodpecker (mean length of 29 cm (11 in)) of the Sonoran, Yuma, and eastern Colorado Desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including all of the Baja California peninsula except the extreme northwestern region. Yellow underwings distinguish the gilded flicker from the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) found within the same regio…

Key takeaways

Gilded flicker belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gilded flicker to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gilded flicker from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) is a large woodpecker (mean length of 29 cm (11 in)) of the Sonoran, Yuma, and eastern Colorado Desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including all of the Baja California peninsula except the extreme northwestern region. Yellow underwings distinguish the gilded flicker from the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) found within the same region, which has red underwings.

Taxonomy Four subspecies are recognized:

The Cape gilded flicker (C. c. chrysoides) resides in southern Baja California. The brown gilded flicker (C. c. brunnescens) resides in northern and central Baja California. Mearns' gilded flicker (C. c. mearnsi) resides in extreme southeastern California to Arizona and northwestern Mexico. The Mexican gilded flicker (C. c. tenebrosus) resides in northwestern Mexico from northern Sonora to northern Sinaloa.

Habitat The gilded flicker most frequently builds its nest hole in a saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), excavating a nest hole nearer to the top than to the ground. Less frequently, they will also nest in desert dry washes with Frémont's cottonwood (Populus fremontii) or willows (Salix sp.). Cavities in saguaros are excavated one year before they are inhabited. The saguaro defends itself against water loss into the cavity of the nesting hole by secreting sap that hardens into a waterproof structure that is known as a saguaro boot. Northern flickers, on the other hand, nest in riparian trees and very rarely inhabit saguaros. Gilded flickers occasionally hybridize with northern flickers in the narrow zones where their ranges and habitats overlap.

Diet The gilded flicker's diet mostly consists of ants, as well as other insects such as beetles or termites. They forage on the ground by picking up insects or using their tongues to probe anthills. They also feed on fruits and berries.

References

Gallery

Further reading Corman, T. E., Wise-Gervais, C. Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. (2005) ISBN 0-8263-3379-6. National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. (1999) ISBN 0-7922-7451-2.

External links

Gilded flicker photo gallery Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine VIREO Photo-High Res; Article borderland-tours Photo-High Res; Article tsuru-bird.net

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gilded flicker

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gilded flicker claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gilded flicker before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gilded flicker ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gilded flicker

In research: Gilded flicker appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gilded flicker in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gilded flicker is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds described in 1845, Birds of Mexico, Colaptes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gilded flicker outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gilded flicker in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gilded flicker means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gilded flicker out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gilded flicker in simple terms?

Why does Gilded flicker matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gilded flicker?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gilded flicker.