Wildlifeof Malaysia
Greater Flameback
Barbets & Woodpeckers
Photo: Carmeloabad · CC BY-SA 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus
Basic stats
Diet
Invertebrates
Habitat
Rather open forest, such as Himalayan foothills; mangrove
Range
Northern Indian subcontinent east to southern China, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and north-east Borneo
Clutch size
3–4 white eggs
Size
33cm
The greater flameback, also called the greater goldenback or large golden-backed woodpecker, is a large woodpecker, 33 cm long, of typical woodpecker shape with an erect crest and a long neck. Colour varies a lot between subspecies, but it always has an unmarked golden-yellow to dark brown back and wings, a red rump and a black tail. The underparts are white with dark markings or light brown, and young birds are like the females but duller, with brown irises (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is associated with a range of rather open forest habitats and also lives in mangrove forest. It nests in tree holes, laying three or four white eggs. In Malaysian mangroves it prefers to forage on tall Avicennia alba (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Greater Flameback eat?
- Invertebrates
- What habitat does the Greater Flameback live in?
- Rather open forest, such as Himalayan foothills; mangrove
- Where is the Greater Flameback found?
- Northern Indian subcontinent east to southern China, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and north-east Borneo
- How many eggs does the Greater Flameback lay?
- 3–4 white eggs
- How big is the Greater Flameback?
- 33cm