Subspecies
The race in the arid northwestern India and Pakistan, dilutum, has pale yellow upperparts, a long crest and whiter underparts than the nominate race of the Gangetic plains. The upperparts have less spots. They prefer to breed in old gnarled tamarisks, Acacia and Dalbergia trunks. The nominate populations is found across India in the low elevations up to about 1000 m. Southern Peninsular form puncticolle has the throat black with small triangular white spots and the upper parts are a bright golden-yellow. The subspecies found in the Western Ghats is sometimes separated as tehminae (named after the wife of Salim Ali) and is more olive above, has fine spots on the black throat and the wing-covert spots are not distinct. The southern Sri Lankan subspecies D. b. psarodes has a crimson back and all the dark markings are blacker and more extensive. It hybridizes with the northern Sri Lankan race jaffnense which has a shorter beak. The Sri Lankan race psarodes is sometimes considered a distinct species although it is said to intergrade with jaffnense near Puttalam, Kekirawa and Trincomalee.
Read more about this topic: Black-rumped Flameback