Black-capped Kingfisher
Halcyon pileata
An unmistakable mid-sized kingfisher with a jet black head, white collar, and blood-red bill. It has purple-blue upperparts and pale orange-rufous underparts. Throat is white, blue tail has black underside, and in flight, white flashes on the underwings are conspicuous. Juvenile is duller blue with a small rufous-buff spot in front of the eye, a buffy collar, and dusky scaling on the breast. Calls similar to White-throated Kingfisher, but Black-capped’s are slightly higher-pitched. Frequents mangrove swamps and coastal wetlands, but often wanders up into hill streams.
Identification
This kingfisher is about 28 centimetres (11 in) long. The adult has purple-blue wings and back, black head and shoulders, white neck collar and throat, and rufous underparts. The large bill and legs are bright red. In flight, large white patches or "mirrors" at the base of the primaries are visible on the blue and black wings. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult and show streaks on the throat. The call of this kingfisher is a cackling ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.<p>Usually seen on coastal waters and especially in mangroves, it is easily disturbed. It perches conspicuously and dives to catch fish, and also feeds on large insects. The flight of the black-capped kingfisher is rapid and direct, the short rounded wings whirring.<p>The breeding season is in summer. The nest is a tunnel in an earth bank. A single clutch of 4-5 round, white eggs is typical.<p>A subspecies palawanensis has been described, but the species is considered to be monotypic with no clear plumage differences across its range.
Taxonomy
The black-capped kingfisher was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1780. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle, which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name, but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Alcedo pileata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The type locality is China. The present genus Halcyon was introduced by the English naturalist and artist William John Swainson in 1821. Halcyon is a name for a bird in Greek mythology generally associated with the kingfisher. The specific epithet pileata is from the Latin pileatus meaning '-capped'. The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Halcyon pileata
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Halcyon
Range and habitat
The species is found mainly near the coast in mangrove forests and along estuaries and rivers. The distribution ranges from India (including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where they occur even on remote islands like Narcondam), Sri Lanka, Kansu, Shansi, Korea, Malay Peninsula, Thailand, Burma, Ryukyu Islands, Bangladesh, Hainan, Philippines (Palawan, Balabac, Basilan, Tawi Tawi), Borneo, Sumatra east to Sulawesi where it occurs only in winter. Vagrants in winter have been recorded in Pakistan, while movements related to rainfall may lead to their being found far inland and away from their usual distribution.
- Breeding range
- OR : India through Myanmar and China to Korean Pen.
- Non-breeding range
- to India, se Asia, Greater Sundas and Sulawesi region
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Poecilotriccus ruficeps
Tiny, plump flycatcher found in the understory of the subtropical zone in the Andes, especially around bamboo. Distinctive plumage with yellow belly, white throat, rufous crown, black border around cheek, and bold yellow wingbars. Some populations show rufous wash on cheeks and a reduced black border. Sexes similar. Usually seen in singles or pairs, inconspicuously flitting around the understory of forest and edge. Listen for stuttering calls.
Crested Spinetail
Cranioleuca subcristata
Distinctive small, bicolored bird, with a mostly pale olive-brown body, short crest, rufous wings, and long spiky rufous tail. Crown has narrow black stripes; bill pinkish and decurved. Very arboreal, actively foraging by hitching up branches and tree trunks, as well as by checking leaves and bromeliads. Often with mixed-species flocks. Common, mainly in foothills and lower montane regions. Usually in humid forest, tall secondary forest, and forest borders. Very vocal, the song an accelerating series of short, high notes.
Swainson's Thrush
Catharus ustulatus
Uniform medium-brown above from head to tail. Distinctive pale, buffy eyering and face separates Swainson's from other thrushes. Spots are concentrated and clearly defined on upper breast, becoming smudgier towards belly. Breeds in the boreal forest. Migrates to South America for winter; very rare in the U.S. after October, unlike Hermit Thrush. Its song is flute-like, ascending spiral like Veery in reverse.
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