- Dinopium benghalense
Alternative name: Lesser Goldenback
Identification
26-29 cm
- Golden yellow back
- Paler wings
- Black rump and tail
- White underparts with dark chevron markings
- Black throat
- Whitish head
- Black nape and throat
- Grayish eye patch
Male - red crown and crest.
Female - black forecrown spotted with white, with red only on the rear crest..
Young birds are like female, but duller.
Distribution
Sri Lanka; India, western Myanmar.
Taxonomy
Subspecies[1]
There are 4 subspecies.
- D. b. benghalense from northern India to Assam and sw Burma
- D. b. dilutum in Pakistan
- D. b. puncticolle in central and s India; n Sri Lanka
- D. b. psarodes in central and s Sri Lanka
Habitat
Open forest and cultivation.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes insects.
Breeding
It nests in a tree hole, laying 3 white eggs.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia