The Andean flicker (Colaptes rupicola) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae.

Adult males of the nominate subspecies are dark slate gray from forehead to hindneck; the last occasionally has a hint of red.

Their face, chin, and throat are pale buffy white with a thin black malar stripe with red tips on the feathers.

Their underparts are whitish with a variable orange-buff wash on the breast and small blackish marks there and sometimes on the flanks.

Their long bill is black, their iris lemon yellow, and the legs yellowish gray, greenish, or grayish pink.

Juveniles are duller than adults but with pale blue or reddish brown eyes, and they have buff tips on the rear crown feathers and bar-like rather than spotted underparts.

It is found from Loja Province in extreme southern Ecuador south into central Peru as far as the departments of Pasco and Junín.

The nominate C. r. rupicola is found from northern Chile's Tarapacá Region through western, southern, and central Bolivia into northwestern Argentina as far as Catamarca Province.

It inhabits the páramo, the puna, Polylepis woodland, montane scrublands, and other landscapes of mixed rock, grass, and some higher vegetation.

[8] The Andean flicker is mostly a year-round resident throughout its range but is believed to move from the highest elevations if forced by snow or cold.

It typically drops from a vantage point to probe, dig, and sweep away pebbles and debris in search of prey and then returns to the elevated perch.

Its nesting season is believed to be September to November in central Peru and January to March in some other areas.