Greater flameback
| Greater flameback | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Genus: | Chrysocolaptes |
| Species: | C. guttacristatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus (Tickell, 1833)
| |
The greater flameback (Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus), also known as the greater goldenback or large golden-backed woodpecker, is a woodpecker species. It occurs widely in the northern Indian subcontinent, eastwards to southern China, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, western and central Java and northeast Borneo.
Taxonomy
It has been suggested to split the greater flameback into the following species:[2][3]
- Greater flameback, (C. guttacristatus) (C. lucidus if taken as a group and not split)
- Crimson-backed flameback, (C. stricklandi) of Sri Lanka
- Kangean Islands
- Luzon flameback (C. haematribon) of Luzon, Polillo, Catanduanes and Marinduque in the northern Philippines
- Yellow-faced flameback (C. xanthocephalus) of Negros, Guimaras, Panay, Masbate and Ticao, Philippine Islands
- Buff-spotted flameback (C. lucidus) of Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Biliran, Panaon, Mindando, Basilan, and Samal, Philippine Islands
- Red-headed flameback (C. erythrocephalus) of Balabac, Palawan, Busuanga, and Calamian, Philippine Islands
- Malabar flameback (C. socialis) of southwestern India
Description
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The greater flameback is a large
The adult male greater flameback always has a red crown. Females have a crown color varying between subspecies, such as black spotted with white, yellow, or brown with lighter dots. Young birds are like the females, but duller, with brown irises.[4]
Similar species
White-and-black-headed greater flameback subspecies resemble some of the three-toed Dinopium flamebacks, but are not particularly closely related. Unlike the black-rumped flameback (D. benghalense) and the common flameback (D. javanense), the greater flameback's dark moustache stripes are divided by white (making them inconspicuous at a distance); except in C. stricklandi, their hindneck is white (not black), and even in the Sri Lankan birds, the dark colour does not extend to between the shoulders as it does in Dinopium; consequently, when seen from behind, the black-and-white-headed greater flamebacks outside Sri Lanka show a white neck bordered with black on the sides, while the Dinopium species have a black neck and upper back, with thin, white borders to the neck. Those flamebacks are also smaller (though this is only reliable in direct comparison), have a bill that is shorter than the head, and dark irises.[4][5]
Behaviour and ecology
This
Like other woodpeckers, the greater flameback uses its bill to dig out food from trees, and its zygodactyl feet and stiff tail to provide support against tree trunks. The long tongue can be darted forward to extract wood-boring arthropod prey; while mainly feeding on small invertebrates, greater flamebacks also drink nectar. They nest in tree holes, laying three or four white eggs.[5]
Conservation
Widely distributed and common in parts of its range, the greater flameback is classified as
Evolution
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Collar, N.J. (2011). "Species limits in some Philippine birds including the Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus". Forktail. 27: 29–38.
- ^ Abhirami, C.; Niranjana, C.; Praveen, J. (2021). "An analysis of Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus vocalisations and their taxonomic and biogeographic implications" (PDF). Indian Birds. 17 (5): 129–134.
- ^ a b c d Noske, R.A. (1991). "Field identification and ecology of the Greater Goldenback Chrysocolaptes lucidus in Malaysia" (PDF). Forktail. 6: 72–74. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2008.
- ^ ISBN 0-691-04910-6.
- S2CID 14850891.
- S2CID 36567740.
- ISBN 84-87334-67-9
External links
Media related to Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus at Wikimedia Commons