Black-rumped Flameback

The black-rumped flameback, or lesser goldenback, is a large woodpecker, 26–29cm long, with golden-yellow wing coverts and a black rump, unlike the red rump of the greater flameback. It is the only golden-backed woodpecker in the region with a black throat finely marked white. The head is whitish with a black nape and a greyish eye patch, without dark moustache stripes, and the underparts are white with dark chevrons. The male has a red crown and crest; the female has a black forecrown spotted white, with red only on the rear crest (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is one of the few woodpeckers regularly seen in towns, using open forest, cultivation and wooded avenues. It has a characteristic rattling, whinnying call and an undulating flight. Like other woodpeckers it has a straight, pointed bill, a stiff tail that props it against trunks, two toes pointing forward and two back, and a long tongue that it darts out to catch insects (Wikipedia, general species account).