Black-rumped Flameback Woodpecker

The only Flameback Woodpecker with black rump & black throat. 

What they look like:

Their beaks are all black, the face white with a black eye stripe and eyes. A long black stripe runs from the chin down to the belly and is streaked white.

The male…

Their back is golden as the name suggests with white spotted shoulders. The wings have black edges with a few white spots. The tail is forked and black.

The male has an all red crown while the lady has a half spotted, half red crown.

Juniors look like their mothers initially with dark backs, the colors appearing later.

Insights:

Like all woodpeckers they peck wood searching for insects. Their nest is a small hole in a tree. The junior gets care from both the parents.

The junior…

On one occasion, I saw junior with his father land on a tree. The father immediately got to wood pecking and moving up the tree…but junior did not budge…the father realized this and then looked down and waited patiently for quite a while, even then junior just remained still. Then the father gave a loud call and the junior finally gave in and moved up.

Their problems:

What is a bird like this woodpecker supposed to do when trees are rampantly cut and insecticides sprayed which means there is no food available?

On one instance, I saw the poor father looking for insects in a pile of fresh cow dung!!! Finding little, he flew away. But junior jumped in thinking of food and messed around tossing the dung here and there.

On another occasion, the mother was searching for insects in a brick and concrete structure.

Note: I thank Dr. Rohinish Khurana for contributing the last video.