Black-rumped Flameback

The black-rumped flameback, or lesser goldenback, is a woodpecker widely distributed in the Indian subcontinent and one of the few woodpeckers seen in urban areas. It has a characteristic rattling, whinnying call and an undulating flight, and it is the only golden-backed woodpecker with a black throat and a black rump (Wikipedia, general species account).

Five subspecies are recognised. The nominate form is found across India at low elevations up to about 1,000 m, and the northwestern form is paler with a long crest. In Sri Lanka it hybridises with the endemic red-backed flameback in a zone across the north. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).