Northern Flickers are large woodpeckers that forage mainly on the ground, feeding on ants.
Northern Flickers have two subspecies: the Red-shafted Flicker (C. a. cafer) of western North America and the Yellow-shafted Flicker (C. a. auratus) of the east and far north. 
This is the red-shafted (western) subspecies.
The difference with the yellow-shafted (eastern) subspecies is the grey (not brown) face and throat and the male's red (not black) malar.

Boulder, Colorado, USA, 8 November 2008