Greater Flameback
Encyclopedia
The Greater Flameback, Chrysocolaptes lucidus, also known as Greater Goldenback, Large Golden-backed Woodpecker or Malherbe's Golden-backed Woodpecker, is a woodpecker
species
. It occurs widely in tropical Asia
, from the Indian subcontinent
eastwards to Indonesia
and the Philippines
.
The Greater Flameback is a large woodpecker
, at 33 cm in length. It is of typical woodpecker shape, has an erect crest and a long neck. Coloration is highly variable between subspecies
; it always has unmarked golden-yellow to dark brown back and wings. The rump is red and the tail is black. The underparts are white with dark markings (chevrons, stripes, or bands), or light brown. The head is whitish with a black pattern, or it is yellow, brown or red. The straight pointed bill is long (longer than the head) and – like the legs and four-toed zygodactyl feet (two toes pointing forward, two backward) – lead-grey. The eyes' irides
are whitish to yellow.
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 female, but duller, with brown irides.
The Sri Lanka
n Crimson-backed Flameback has very dark and rufous wings and a dark hindneck. It is sometimes considered a Greater Flameback subspecies
(C. l. stricklandi), sometimes separated as a distinct 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 Flamebacks' dark moustache stripes are divided by white (making them inconspicuous at a distance); except in 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 irides.
Convergent evolution
in plumage between a larger and a smaller species
is also found among other woodpeckers, such as the North America
n Downy Woodpecker
("Picoides" pubescens) and Hairy Woodpecker
("P." villosus), the tropical American
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
("P." fumigatus) and certain Veniliornis
species, or the Striped Woodpecker
(V. lignarius) and Checkered Woodpecker
(V. mixtus) and some South America
n Piculus
and "Picoides
". In all of these cases, these birds are neither gregarious nor known to be bad-tasting, and due to their size difference and habitat
preferences do not compete much; hence the usual reasons for mimicry do not seem to apply. While the similar plumage may be due to sheer chance – perhaps as an atavism
of plesiomorphic patterns – the facts that such cases are commonplace in the Picinae and that the species involved are usually sympatric suggests that there may well be some as yet undiscovered benefit to either or all of the taxa involved.
is a species associated with a diversity of rather open forest habitat
, such as found in the foothills of the Himalayas or in the Western Ghats
; it also inhabits mangrove
forest. It seems to be well-adapted to particular forest types, while the similar-looking Common Flameback
(Dinopium javanense) is more of a generalist
; thus, depending on what forests predominate in a region, C. lucidus may be more (e.g. in Thailand
) or less common (e.g. in peninsular Malaysia
) than D. javanense. In Malaysian mangrove forest for example, the Greater Flameback has been found to prefer tall Avicennia alba
for foraging, while the Common Flameback rather indiscriminately utilizes that species as well as Bruguiera parviflora and Sonneratia alba.
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 invertebrate
s, Greater Flamebacks will also drink nectar. They nest in tree holes, laying three or four white eggs.
Widely distributed and quite common in parts of its range, the Greater Fireback is classified as a Species of Least Concern
by the IUCN.
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. It occurs widely in tropical Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
eastwards to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Description
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
, at 33 cm in length. It is of typical woodpecker shape, has an erect crest and a long neck. Coloration is highly variable between subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
; it always has unmarked golden-yellow to dark brown back and wings. The rump is red and the tail is black. The underparts are white with dark markings (chevrons, stripes, or bands), or light brown. The head is whitish with a black pattern, or it is yellow, brown or red. The straight pointed bill is long (longer than the head) and – like the legs and four-toed zygodactyl feet (two toes pointing forward, two backward) – lead-grey. The eyes' irides
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
are whitish to yellow.
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 female, but duller, with brown irides.
The Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n Crimson-backed Flameback has very dark and rufous wings and a dark hindneck. It is sometimes considered a Greater Flameback subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
(C. l. stricklandi), sometimes separated as a distinct species.
Similar species
Dinopium
Dinopium is a genus of birds in the Picidae family.It contains the following species:* Olive-backed Woodpecker, Dinopium rafflesii* Himalayan Flameback, Dinopium shorii* Common Flameback, Dinopium javanense...
flamebacks, but are not particularly closely related. Unlike the Black-rumped Flameback
Black-rumped Flameback
The Black-rumped Flameback , also known as the Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker or Lesser Goldenback, is a woodpecker found widely distributed in South Asia. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas. It has a characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an undulating flight...
(D. benghalense) and the Common Flameback
Common Flameback
The Common Flameback or Common Goldenback is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.-Description and ecology:A medium-sized, golden-backed woodpecker...
(D. javanense), the Greater Flamebacks' dark moustache stripes are divided by white (making them inconspicuous at a distance); except in 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 irides.
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
in plumage between a larger and a smaller species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
is also found among other woodpeckers, such as the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
The Downy Woodpecker is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America.- Description :Adult Downy Woodpeckers are mainly black on the upperparts and wings, with a white back, throat and belly and white spotting on the wings. There is a white bar above the eye and one below. They have a...
("Picoides" pubescens) and Hairy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker, averaging approximately 250 mm in length with a 380 mm wingspan...
("P." villosus), the tropical American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
The Smoky-brown Woodpecker or Brown Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family.It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.-Habitat:Its natural habitats are subtropical or...
("P." fumigatus) and certain Veniliornis
Veniliornis
Veniliornis is a genus of bird in the Picidae family. The Smoky-brown Woodpecker, previously V. fumigatus, is now provisionally in the paraphyletic Picoides, while two other species have been moved from there to the present genus....
species, or the Striped Woodpecker
Striped Woodpecker
The Striped Woodpecker is a woodpecker found in southwestern South America. It occurs northwest- and southwestwards of the range of its sister taxon, the Checkered Woodpecker, in the Cordillera Patagonica and its foothills, and in another population in the Andes of Bolivia and the adjacent...
(V. lignarius) and Checkered Woodpecker
Checkered Woodpecker
The Checkered Woodpecker, Veniliornis mixtus, is a woodpecker found in eastern South America.This bird is about 5½ inches long...
(V. mixtus) and some South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n Piculus
Piculus
Piculus is a genus of bird in the Picidae family.It contains the following species:* Rufous-winged Woodpecker * Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker * Lita Woodpecker...
and "Picoides
Picoides
Picoides is a genus of woodpeckers found primarily in North America. The plumage in most species is predominantly black and white, brown and white in some southern species, with the male often having a red badge. Their bills are straight and chisel-shaped...
". In all of these cases, these birds are neither gregarious nor known to be bad-tasting, and due to their size difference and habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
preferences do not compete much; hence the usual reasons for mimicry do not seem to apply. While the similar plumage may be due to sheer chance – perhaps as an atavism
Atavism
Atavism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type. In biology, an atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generations before. Atavisms can occur in several ways...
of plesiomorphic patterns – the facts that such cases are commonplace in the Picinae and that the species involved are usually sympatric suggests that there may well be some as yet undiscovered benefit to either or all of the taxa involved.
Ecology
This flamebackFlameback
The flamebacks or goldenbacks are large woodpeckers which are resident breeders in tropical southern Asia. They derive their English names from their golden or crimson backs....
is a species associated with a diversity of rather open forest habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
, such as found in the foothills of the Himalayas or in the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
; it also inhabits mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
forest. It seems to be well-adapted to particular forest types, while the similar-looking Common Flameback
Common Flameback
The Common Flameback or Common Goldenback is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.-Description and ecology:A medium-sized, golden-backed woodpecker...
(Dinopium javanense) is more of a generalist
Generalist and specialist species
A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources . A specialist species can only thrive in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet. Most organisms do not all fit neatly into either...
; thus, depending on what forests predominate in a region, C. lucidus may be more (e.g. in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
) or less common (e.g. in peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
) than D. javanense. In Malaysian mangrove forest for example, the Greater Flameback has been found to prefer tall Avicennia alba
Avicennia alba
Avicennia alba forms a low, dense bushy crown often branching near the base of the trunk. The shrub does not grow more than 20 m. The dark green leaves, 15 cm long by 5 cm wide, have a silvery gray under leaf and grow in opposites. Orange yellow flowers, borne in a racemose inflorescence, have a...
for foraging, while the Common Flameback rather indiscriminately utilizes that species as well as Bruguiera parviflora and Sonneratia alba.
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
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
prey; while mainly feeding on small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, Greater Flamebacks will also drink nectar. They nest in tree holes, laying three or four white eggs.
Widely distributed and quite common in parts of its range, the Greater Fireback is classified as a Species of Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN.