Brown-hooded Kingfisher
Halcyon albiventris
A medium-sized woodland-dwelling kingfisher with a blue tail and flight feathers, dark brown back and shoulders, gray-brown streaked head, and dark-tipped reddish bill. In flight it has distinctive cinnamon underwings. Singles and pairs inhabit woodland, riverine forest, forest edges, and cultivation. Calls a short descending “ki-ti-ti-ti-it”. Gray-headed Kingfisher is similar but has a chestnut belly, grayer head and dark, and white-and-rufous (not all rufous) underwings in flight.
Identification
The brown-hooded kingfisher is about 22 cm (8.7 in) long. The head is brown, with blackish streaks. There is a broad buffy collar above the brownish-black mantle. The wing coverts are mostly brownish-black, and the secondary flight feathers are turquoise. The rump is azure-blue. The chin is white, the breast is tawny with some dark streaks, and the belly is buffy. The beak is red, tipped brown, the legs are carmine, and the eyes are dark brown. The female has dark brown upperparts, and its underparts are more streaked than the male. The juvenile bird is duller, with scalloped whitish underparts. The subspecies differ in shade and streaking.
Taxonomy
This species was described as Alcedo albiventris by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1786. Four subspecies are recognised: Halcyon albiventris albiventris, H. a. orientalis, H. a. prentissgrayi and H. a. vociferans. Subspecies hylophila and erlangeri have also been described, but they are not considered distinct enough.
- Scientific name
- Halcyon albiventris
- Authority
- (Scopoli, 1786)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Halcyon
Range and habitat
This kingfisher is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini. It occurs below 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in elevation, living in woodland, grassland with trees, scrubland, forest edge, and also cultivations, parks and gardens. It sometimes occurs near water, and can adapt to suburban habitats. Most populations do not migrate, but there is evidence of seasonal movements in some areas.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This kingfisher is generally seen alone or in pairs. It usually forages on the ground, mainly feeding on insects, and also eating scorpions, reptiles, small birds, rodents and fishes. Eating snakes and lizards as long as 25 cm (9.8 in) has been reported. The song, given while vibrating the wings, is a tiiiu or ki-ti-ti-ti trill, and a sharp cheerit is given when alarmed. The breeding season is mainly between September and April. A burrow nest is dug in a river bank, gully or road cutting. The family stays together for a few weeks after breeding.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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