Common Flameback

On this particular day in the Kaeng Krachan National Park, we recorded two Common Flameback Dinopium javanese and two Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus. My photographs are rather distant and I have spent some time trying to identify the species. Fortunately, I have discovered the following information in Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp and Tim Inskipp published by Helm in 1998. “Common Flameback is told from Greater Flameback by its smaller size, weaker looking bill, unspotted black hind neck and upper mantle, and reddish or brown eyes, and has three (rather than four) toes. I have added three photos, two of a male bird and one of a female which between them show these features and confirm the identification as Common Flameback.

Common Flameback or Common Goldenback Dinopium javanense is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Spot-throated Flameback is sometimes considered a subspecies. A medium-sized, golden-backed woodpecker with long and solid black moustachial stripes. Both sexes have black eye stripes joined to black rear neck stripe. Male has red, female black crown. Black-scaled white underparts and red rump contrasting with black tail. Rather small bill and only three toes. Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus looks quite similar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

Reference: Wikipedia