anyone know a lot about birds? I went to my family farm earlier today and there was a bird that I've never seen before. I'm curious if this new bird might eat grain or cause other problems. I couldn't figure out what it was from online bird identification programs because I couldn't search for certain parts of the bird.
picture related: the bird looked similar to this but with certain changes described below.
it had a small bit of red on it's head feather/fluff. the foot had 4 toes so it could grab a branch from front and back to wrap around. the wings feathers were yellow when looking from the inside but the outside was gray and white like the rest of the bird. it had a sharp beak about the length of it's head. lastly I'm close to the alberta and saskatchewan border but because this is the first time I've ever seen the bird it might not be native to this area.
it would be greatly appreciated if you could help me figure out if this bird species will cause problems or if it is fine to keep it around.
like this or what? where do you live?
>>2159460
the bird I saw looks very close in overall shape as that but is brown and spotted. the red on it's head is right above the eyes, middle of head. that part is hard to see as I didn't notice it until I was holding the bird.
the farm where I saw a bunch of them is south of Lloydminster which is on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan
>>2159464
>Lloydminster
Canada huh? Like this?
>>2159460
thanks for the help, that picture clued me in on how the bird was part of the woodpecker family. I saw a few of them clinging to power poles but didn't think anything of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_flicker
there's 3 types of the bird and the ones I saw must have been the yellow shafted variant.