Chrysocolaptes stricklandi
The Crimson-backed Flameback, *Chrysocolaptes stricklandi*, is a striking, medium-large woodpecker endemic to the lush forests of Sri Lanka. Measuring approximately 29-31 cm (11-12 inches) in length, its most distinctive feature is the brilliant, fiery crimson-red plumage that covers its entire back and wings, providing a vivid contrast to its golden-yellowish underparts heavily barred with black. Males are distinguished by a magnificent red crest and red sides to the crown, while females spo...
This woodpecker thrives in the wet zone and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka, inhabiting primary and secondary evergreen rainforests, moist deciduous forests, plantations, and large gardens. It prefers areas with tall trees for foraging and nesting, typically found from lowlands up to 2,000 meters...
Its diet consists predominantly of wood-boring beetle larvae, ants, and other insects found under bark or within decaying wood. Occasionally, it supplements its insectivorous diet with nectar or small fruits.
The Crimson-backed Flameback is a diurnal species, typically observed singly or in pairs, rarely joining mixed-species foraging flocks but often in proximity to them. It forages primarily on the trunks and large branches of trees, employing powerful pecking and scaling techniques to extract wood-...
The Crimson-backed Flameback is strictly endemic to the island nation of Sri Lanka, where it is a resident species, exhibiting no migratory movements. Its distribution is concentrated within the wet zone and intermediate climatic zones of the island, encompassing both lowland and montane rainfore...
Least Concern
- The Crimson-backed Flameback is entirely endemic to Sri Lanka, meaning it is found nowhere else in the world. - It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Greater Flameback (*Chrysocolaptes lucidus*) before genetic and morphological studies led to its reclassification as a distinct species....