School is closing down for the summer vacation and it was our last day at school. I was lazily walking down the corridor when I heard a weird knocking sound from the trees lined beside our wide corridor. It sounded like somebody was hitting hard on a wooden plate. I got thinking and all the more eager to find where it was coming from. Taking a closer look, I realised it was a woodpecker. It was about 25-30cm in length and it looked much different from the ones that I have often seen in our campus. Though happy and excited about seeing a new species, I went back home with this thought lingering in my mind as to what it could be?
The moment I reached home I rushed to look through the books to identify the bird I had seen in campus. I realised that it was the Black-Rumped Flameback or Lesser Golden-Backed which is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas. It is a resident species in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Spotting these species of woodpeckers in the city is a bit difficult when its habitat is being constantly destroyed by humans.
It has a typical woodpecker shape and the golden yellow wing coverts are distinctive. The Rump is black and not red in the Greater flameback. The underparts are white with dark chevron markings. The black throat finely marked with white immediately separates it from other golden backed woodpeckers in the Indian region. It’s head is whitish with a black nape and throat, there is a grayish eye patch. Unlike the Greater flameback it has no dark moustachial stripes.
I still look for some moments of magic where I learn something about life from these beautiful little creatures who grace me with their presence and mesmerize me with their adorable voice and flutter.
