Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker

Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker
	Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker (male, drawing by Elizabeth Gould, 1832)
Systematics
Class :	Birds (aves)
Order :	Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family :	Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Subfamily :	Real woodpeckers (Picinae)
Genre :	Dinopium
Type :	Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker
Scientific name
	Dinopium shorii
	( Vigors , 1832)

The Himalayan common flameback ( Dinopium shorii ) is a species of bird from the family of woodpeckers (Picidae). The medium-sized woodpecker lives in old deciduous and semi-evergreen forests in parts of South Asia. Almost nothing is known about the way of life of the species. It is considered to be quite common, at least locally, but the population is likely to be decreasing. However, the Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker is still classified by the IUCN as not endangered (“least concern”).

description

Himalayan fire-backed woodpeckers are medium-sized woodpeckers with a pronounced feather hood, a rather soft, long and slightly downwardly curved tail and a medium-long, almost point-like, pointed beak that is narrow at the base. The ridge of the beak is bent downwards. The body length is 30-32 cm, the weight about 101 g. They are thus about the size of a green woodpecker , but only slightly heavier than a woodpecker . The species is colored richly and shows a clear sexual dimorphism with regard to the coloring .

In males of the nominate form , the uppermost back is black. The rest of the upper back, the shoulder feathers, the upper wing coverts and the umbrella feathers are olive green with yellow or gold feathers and a strong shade of red on the edges and tips. The lower back, rump and some upper tail coverts are bright red, the other upper tail coverts are blackish olive brown. The wings are black-brown, the arm wings have yellow-olive outside flags and all wings are spotted white on the inside flags . The top of the tail is black. The chin, throat, front neck and upper chest are whitish and beige-brown in the middle; this beige-brown color takes up almost the entire width of the chest and is lined with black spots on the sides. The rest of the underside of the fuselage is white, the feathers are lined with brownish-black and have black tips, creating an implied scale pattern. The lower wings are spotted white on a brown background. The lower tail is brown-black, the outer feathers show a yellow-olive tone.

The forehead is yellowish red, the skull and cap are red; the red color is limited to a narrow black from the front of the head to the nape of the neck. A wide white stripe over the eyes extends from the upper edge of the eye to the side of the neck. Below that, a wide black eye stripe runs from the back of the eye to the nape of the neck. The white rein strip begins at the base of the beak and runs backwards below the ear covers, then becomes wider and runs as a white band over the side of the neck to the upper side of the chest. The streak of beard that begins at the lower base of the beak is lined with pale red and narrow black, about up to the level of the ear covers, then turns into black and continues as a black front border of the white side of the neck also to the upper breast. The neck is black like the top back.

The bill is blackish, legs and toes are green-gray or brownish green. The iris is red, maroon or dark brown.

Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker, female

In the female the red head parts are missing; the forehead is olive or beige, the skull and cap are black-brown to black with white dashes. The beard stripe is white near the base of the beak with a black border.

Systematics

Two poorly differentiated subspecies are recognized:

Dinopium shorii shorii ( Vigors , 1832) - largest part of the range.

Dinopium shorii anguste Ripley , 1950 - Myanmar and possibly also areas to the west. Beak length , wing length and tail length are smaller than in the nominate form . There is a tendency towards a little less red on the upper side, but this feature is not always present and can also be detected in the nominate form. In females, however, the white dotted lines on the skull are considerably finer and the posterior skull is practically unlined.

Vocalizations

The calls are hardly known, described is a quick, fine "kläk-kläk-kläk-kläk-kläk" . It is apparently also not yet known whether the species drums.

distribution and habitat

This species of woodpecker inhabits parts of South Asia. The highly fragmented distribution area initially includes a narrow zone that extends from the provinces of Haryana and southern Himachal Pradesh in northwest India to the east along the southern foot of the Himalayas and then expands to the north of Bangladesh and Myanmar . The species is also widely isolated in some areas of the Eastern Ghats in central southeast India. The size of the total distribution area is not known.

Himalayan fire-backed woodpeckers inhabit ancient deciduous and semi-evergreen forests. In Nepal the species only inhabits the deciduous forest zone with Bombax spp. ( Bombacoideae ) and figs ( Ficus spp.). The animals are largely limited to the flat and low hill country, the altitude range extends up to about 700 m, in Nepal only up to 300 m.

Way of life

Almost nothing is known about the way of life of the species, there is no information about the type of foraging or food. Breeding birds were observed in April, the clutch consists of three, rarely two eggs. Further information on the breeding biology is not yet available either.

Existence and endangerment

Information on the size of the world population is not available. The species is considered to be quite common, at least locally, but the population is likely to be decreasing due to the decreasing forest area. The Himalayan fire-backed woodpecker is still classified by the IUCN as harmless (“least concern”).

swell

Individual evidence

↑ Hans Winkler, David A. Christie and David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995: p. 374
↑ The Himalayan Fire-Backed Woodpecker at BirdLife International (Online, accessed December 25, 2010)

literature

Hans Winkler , David A. Christie, David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995, ISBN 0-395-72043-5 , pp. 152-153 and 373-374.

Web links

Dinopium shorii in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2010. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved on December 25 of 2010.