Dinopium benghalense
Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 in urban areas. It has a characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an undulating flight. It is the only golden-backed woodpecker with a black throat and a black rump.
The black-rumped flameback was described and illustrated by two pre-Linnaean English naturalists from a dried specimen that had been brought to London. In 1738 Eleazar Albin included the bird as the "Bengall Woodpecker" in his A Natural History of Birds and in 1751 George Edwards included the "Spotted Indian Woodpecker" in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. The black-rumped flameback was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Picus benghalensis. He cited the earlier descriptions by Albin and Edwards. This woodpecker is now placed in the genus Dinopium that was introduced by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1814.
Five subspecies are recognised: The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 9 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 15 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 16 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 17 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 18 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 19 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 20 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 21 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black-rumped Flameback sighting in Periyar National Park on a given day, based on 1,303 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 21st most-seen of the 227 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black-rumped Flameback in Periyar National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May, the lowest month. That is one of Periyar National Park's wettest months, with about 410 mm of rain against 15 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-rumped Flameback sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Black-rumped Flameback sightings, Periyar National Park ranks 4th at about 40%. The best odds are in Bandhavgarh National Park (India, about 50%), Kanha National Park (India, about 50%) and Mudumalai National Park (India, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-rumped Flameback is recorded against all the birds logged in Periyar National Park (1,303 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.
