[3] Now, however, it is restricted to isolated locations in nine of the country's 15 provinces: Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Granma, Holguín, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Río, Santiago de Cuba, and Villa Clara.

[4] The largest population is found in Zapata Swamp, where some 120 pairs are estimated to live, though this number may have dropped following recent hurricanes.

Fernandina's flicker breeds between March and June;[2] during courtship, pairs regularly engage in high-flying chases.

Recent fieldwork has shown that it prefers to use nest holes started by West Indian woodpeckers (Melanerpes superciliaris); the flicker drives off the original owners, finishes off the excavation work, and moves in.

[5] Though it is regularly silent, Fernandina's flicker's calls include a repeated wicka (the onomatopoeic sound which gives the genus its common name), and a loud series of pic notes.

[1] Farming, logging, hurricane damage and the caged bird trade—trappers bring down whole palm trees in order to capture nestling Cuban amazons (Amazona leucocephala leucocephala)[6][7]—are combining to squeeze the remaining birds into smaller and smaller isolated tracts.