Dinopium psarodes
Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback.
It has been considered an endemic species since the time of Legge. It was first placed in the genus Brachypternus as Brachypternus ceylonus. It was later lumped as subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback (Dinopium benghalense), as Dinopium benghalense psarodes. It was elevated to full species status in a study by Sampath S. Seneviratne, Darren E. Irwin, and Saminda P. Fernando.
In this study, it was found to hybridize with the Black-rumped flameback. The hybridization is concentrated north of a border from Trincomalee to the base of Puttalam lagoon and south of a border from Mullaitivu to Mannar. Hybridization is less out of this border, where the Black-rumped flameback dominates north of the border while the Red-backed flameback dominates south of the border. It is a case of Hybrid inferiority, in which the pure species are more successful than the hybrids... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback sighting in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 90th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to March, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback sightings, Horton Plains National Park ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 40%), Minneriya National Park (Sri Lanka, about 20%) and Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Sri Lanka Flameback is recorded against all the birds logged in Horton Plains National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
