24-3-2025 GAL OYA NAT PARK, SRI LANKA - RED BACKED FLAMEBACK WOODPECKER (Dinopium psarodes)

The Red-backed flameback, also known as the Lesser Sri Lanka flameback or Ceylon red-backed woodpecker, is a striking bird endemic to the island of Sri Lanka. It is a medium-sized woodpecker, approximately 28 centimeters in length, with a predominantly crimson plumage and black trailing edges on its wings. The underparts are white, adorned with untidy black markings.

Males boast a resplendent red crown, while females display a black-speckled forecrown and forehead with white spots. Both sexes have a black eyestripe that extends to the back of the neck, merging into the nape and upper back with white streaks. Their grey bill is of moderate size, ending in a blunt point. Juveniles appear duller with less pronounced markings. Hybrids with the Black-rumped flameback may exhibit a blend of red, orange, or yellow plumage.

The Red-backed flameback thrives in a variety of habitats, including subtropical or tropical dry forests, moist lowland forests, and mangrove forests. It is also a common sight in manmade environments such as home gardens and can be observed up to elevations of 1,500 meters.

This woodpecker species is found throughout Sri Lanka, with the exception of the far-north regions. It is most prevalent in the dry zone but has a preference for humid environments.

The Red-backed flameback is known to forage alone, in pairs, or as family groups. It often joins multi-species foraging flocks and exhibits a flap-and-glide bounding flight pattern. When climbing trees, it uses its tail as a prop for support.

2-4-2025 CONCORDIA ESTATE GOATFELL, SRI LANKA - RED BACKED FLAMEBACK WOODPECKER (Dinopium psarodes)

The Red-backed flameback, Lesser Sri Lanka flameback, Sri Lanka red-backed woodpecker or Ceylon red-backed woodpecker (Dinopium psarodes) is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka, only absent in the far-north. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback.

It has been considered an endemic species since the time of Legge. It was first placed in the genus Brachypternus as Brachypternus ceylonus. It was later lumped as subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback (Dinopium benghalense), as Dinopium benghalense psarodes. It was elevated to full species status in a study by Sampath S. Seneviratne, Darren E. Irwin, and Saminda P. Fernando.

In this study, it was found to hybridize with the Black-rumped flameback. The hybridization is concentrated north of a border from Trincomalee to the base of Puttalam lagoon and south of a border from Mullaitivu to Mannar.] Hybridization is less out of this border, where the Black-rumped flameback dominates north of the border while the Red-backed flameback dominates south of the border. It is a case of Hybrid inferiority, in which the pure species are more successful than the hybrids.

It is one of the three species of red coloured flamebacks which are found only in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. It is also the only red-coloured Dinopium species. The other Red flamebacks are the Crimson-backed flameback (Chrysocolaptes stricklandi) of Sri Lanka, and the Luzon flameback (Chrysocolaptes haematribon) of the Philippines (Except for the Yellow-faced flameback (Chrysocolaptes xanthocephalus), but it is mostly yellow.) This analogous trait (a trait shared by two organisms by convergent evolution, which means that they evolved to be similar independently because of similar evolutionary pressures) suggests that some evolutionary pressure in Sri Lanka and the Philippines caused their endemic flamebacks to become red. No subspecies are recognized.