The flamebacks or goldenbacks are large
woodpecker
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar region ...
s which are resident breeders in tropical southern Asia. They derive their English names from their golden or crimson backs.
However, the two flameback
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...
''Dinopium'' and ''Chrysocolaptes'' are not particularly close relatives. The former are close to the enigmatic ''
Meiglyptes
''Meiglyptes'' is a genus of Southeast Asian birds in the family woodpecker family Picidae.
The genus was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1837 with the white-rumped woodpecker (''Meiglyptes tristis'') as the type s ...
'' and possibly ''
Hemicircus'' woodpeckers, and the recently reclassified
rufous woodpecker
The rufous woodpecker (''Micropternus brachyurus'') is a medium-sized brown woodpecker native to South and Southeast Asia. It is short-billed, foraging in pairs on small insects, particularly ants and termites, in scrub, evergreen, and deciduous ...
(''Micropternus brachyurus''). ''Chrysocolaptes'' on the other hand appears to be a rather close relative of ''
Campephilus
''Campephilus'' is a genus of large American woodpeckers in the family Picidae.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Campephilus'' was introduced by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840, with the ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis'') as ...
'', the genus of the famous
ivory-billed woodpecker
The ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis'') is a possibly extinct woodpecker that is native to the bottomland hardwood forests and temperate coniferous forests of the Southern United States and Cuba. Habitat destruction and hunting ...
(''C. principalis'').
[Benz ''et al.'' (2006)]
Tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
Malarpicini
*Genus ''
Dinopium
''Dinopium'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The species are found in South and Southeast Asia.
The genus was introduced by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1814 to accommodate the common flameback ( ...
''
**
Himalayan flameback, ''Dinopium shorii''
**
Common flameback
The common flameback (''Dinopium javanense''), also referred to as the common goldenback, is a small (28–30 cm), three-toed woodpecker in the family Picidae, found throughout South and Southeast Asia.Pittie, Aasheesh & Jayapal, Rajah & Jayad ...
, ''Dinopium javanense''
**
Spot-throated flameback, ''Dinopium everetti''
**
Black-rumped flameback
The black-rumped flameback (''Dinopium benghalense''), also known as the lesser golden-backed woodpecker or lesser goldenback, is a woodpecker found widely distributed in the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen ...
, ''Dinopium benghalense''
**
Red-backed flameback
The Red-backed flameback, Lesser Sri Lanka flameback, Sri Lanka red-backed woodpecker or Ceylon red-backed woodpecker (''Dinopium psarodes'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka, only absent in the far-north. ...
, ''Dinopium psarodes''
Tribe Megapicini
*Genus ''
Chrysocolaptes
''Chrysocolaptes'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae that are found in South and Southeast Asia.
The genus was introduced by English zoologist Edward Blyth in 1843. The type species was subsequently designated as the Javan f ...
''
**
White-naped woodpecker
The white-naped woodpecker (''Chrysocolaptes festivus'') is woodpecker which is a widespread but a scarce breeder in the Indian Subcontinent.
It is associated with open forest and scrub with some trees. It nests in a tree hole, laying one or tw ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes festivus''
**
Greater flameback
The greater flameback (''Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus'') also known as greater goldenback, large golden-backed woodpecker is a woodpecker species. It occurs widely in the northern Indian subcontinent, eastwards to southern China, the Malay Penin ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus''
**
Crimson-backed flameback
The crimson-backed flameback or greater Sri Lanka flameback (''Chrysocolaptes stricklandi'') is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae that is endemic to Sri Lanka.
The crimson-backed flameback and the greater flameback
The grea ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes stricklandi''
**
Javan flameback
The Javan flameback (''Chrysocolaptes strictus'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found on Java, Bali and Kangean Islands. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the greater flameback
The greater flameback (''Chrysocola ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes strictus''
**
Luzon flameback
The Luzon flameback (''Chrysocolaptes haematribon'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found on the northern islands of Luzon, Polillo, Catanduanes and Marinduque, Philippines. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the gre ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes haematribon''
**
Yellow-faced flameback
The yellow-faced flameback (''Chrysocolaptes xanthocephalus'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found on the Philippine islands of Negros and Panay. It is extinct on Guimaras, Masbate, and Ticao (extinct) . It is one of the mo ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes xanthocephalus''
**
Buff-spotted flameback
The buff-spotted flameback (''Chrysocolaptes lucidus'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found on the Philippine islands of Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Biliran, Panaon, Mindanao, Basilan, and Samal. It is sometimes considered a subs ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes lucidus''
**
Red-headed flameback
The red-headed flameback (''Chrysocolaptes erythrocephalus'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to the Philippines only being found in the region of Palawan in the islands of Balabac, mainland Palawan, Busuanga and Calamia ...
, ''Chrysocolaptes erythrocephalus''
Footnotes
References
* {{cite journal , last1=Benz , first1=Brett W. , last2=Robbins , first2=Mark B. , last3=Peterson , first3=A. Townsend , title=Evolutionary history of woodpeckers and allies (Aves: Picidae): Placing key taxa on the phylogenetic tree , url=http://www.nhm.ku.edu/birds/Research_pubs_PDF/Benz_et_al_(2006).pdf , journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution , volume=40 , issue=2 , year=2006 , issn=1055-7903 , doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.02.021 , pages=389–399, pmid=16635580 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617115848/http://www.nhm.ku.edu/birds/Research_pubs_PDF/Benz_et_al_(2006).pdf , archive-date=17 June 2010
Bird common names