Bismarck Kingfisher
Ceyx websteri
A medium-sized blue-and-white kingfisher with a big, heavy black bill. Bluish-green upperparts and chest band contrast with creamy white underparts and white neck patch. Tail and rump lighter blue. Found along slow-flowing lowland rivers. Common Kingfisher is smaller, with orange underparts, and Little Kingfisher is much smaller with a comparatively thinner, weaker bill. Bismarck is told from dwarf kingfishers by larger size, heavier bill, and plain blue upperparts not flecked white. Told from all other blue-and-white kingfishers by blue hindneck and lack of black mask. Call is a loud whistle, stronger and less hissing than Common Kingfisher’s.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Ceyx websteri
- Authority
- (Hartert, EJO, 1898)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Ceyx
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Long-tailed Honey-buzzard
Henicopernis longicauda
A large, long-tailed raptor of lowland and montane forest and clearings. Commonly seen in flight soaring in circles over the canopy with wing and tail feathers spread, showing strong barring. The only similar looking raptor that regularly soars is Pacific Baza, but Long-tailed Honey-buzzard has a streaked chest and lacks the buffy underwing and belly. When perched, similar to Doria’s Goshawk, but has yellow eyes and white legs. Usually silent.
Golden-crowned Spadebill
Platyrinchus coronatus
Tiny bird of forest undergrowth, named for exceptionally broad bill (difficult to see). Very small and short-tailed. Brownish-olive above and pale yellowish below, with black pattern on cheek. Throat and breast uniformly buffy, without contrasting white throat. Crown dull rufous with hidden golden center. Sexes alike. Gives a very high insectlike trill. Usually seen singly or in pairs, always in the lower levels of the forest. Inconspicuous.
Laysan Finch
Telespiza cantans
A finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the island of Laysan; does not occur in the main Hawaiian Islands. An introduced population occurs on Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Unlikely to be confused with any other species; the only other passerine bird on Laysan is the Millerbird, which lacks the Laysan Finch’s heavy bill. Males have a bright yellow head. Females are paler yellow and streaked.
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