Crimson-backed Flameback
Photo: christoph_moning · CC BY 4.0

Woodpeckers

Crimson-backed Flameback

Chrysocolaptes stricklandi

LCLeast Concern Endemic to Sri Lanka
Family
Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Order
Piciformes

Overview

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 (Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus) were both formerly considered as subspecies of the buff-spotted flameback (Chrysocolaptes lucidus).
Nigel Collar (2011, p. 33) notes the differences between Chrysocolaptes stricklandi and Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus as being that the former has a crimson rather than golden upper body plumage, a yellow rather than a black beak, a weaker supramoustachial stripe and a less noticeable, even spotty, eyebrow stripe.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sri Lanka.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Continents

Countries

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.