VALUABLE INFORMATION TO ALL BIRDERS. Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback - A new endemic bird species to Sri Lanka The common Red-backed Woodpecker,found even in many home gardens in Wet,Intermediate and Dry Zones, is now being treated as a full endemic species, called the Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback (Dinopium psarodes ). The latest edition (2014)of the Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Vol. 1 Non-passerines, issued by Lynx and BildLife International has separated the Red-backed Woodpecker or the red-backed sub-species of the Lesser Goldenback from the golden-backed sub-species and is named as a species endemic to Sri Lanka. The authors have followed the scoring system provided by Tobian et al(2010),published in Ibis 152(44) pp.724-746 in making this splitting of the sub-species in to a new species.They justify this by the differences in coloration(shining scarlet on back shading to dull red on wings,lack of black in carpal area) measurements (longer bill, longer wings and longer tail) and differences in vocalization(screechier voice)The distribution is given as Sri Lanka except the North. The Birdlife International has deemed it as a Least Concerned(LC) species as regards to the threatened species criteria. It will be one of the most widespread and common endemic bird species in Sri Lanka. Information Courtesy By - Jagath Gunawardana Photographs By - Dhilip De Alwis
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 07:58:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015