Amazon Kingfisher
Chloroceryle amazona
Medium-sized kingfisher of tropical lowlands. Found singly or in pairs, along rivers and at the edges of ponds and lakes, often perched on wires or bare snags. Mainly flies low over the water. Size similar to Belted Kingfisher, but black bill much more massive and crest more tufted. Also differs from Belted in its dark oily-green head and upperparts. Green Kingfisher is much smaller with bold white spots and bars on the wings.
Identification
The Amazon kingfisher is about 30 cm (12 in) long. Males weigh 98 to 121 g (3.5 to 4.3 oz) and females 125 to 140 g (4.4 to 4.9 oz). It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are dark gray. Adult males have dark bronzy green upperparts divided by a white collar. They have a white chin and throat, a rich rufous breast with dark green sides, and a white belly with dark green streaks on the side. Adult females lack the rufous breast but the green of the sides extends across the breast almost to its middle. Juvenile males have a buffy rufous breast and both sexes have buff spots on the upperwing coverts and a large yellow patch on their bill.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the Amazon kingfisher was by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1790 under the binomial name Alcedo amazona. The current genus Chloroceryle was erected by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Chloroceryle amazona
- Authority
- (Latham, 1790)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Chloroceryle
Range and habitat
The Amazon kingfisher is found from the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas south through Central America into Colombia and Venezuela and separately east of the Andes in every South American country except Chile, reaching as far south as central Argentina. It has been recorded as a vagrant to Aruba, Trinidad, and Texas. It inhabits large rivers, both slow- and fast-flowing, and the wooded shores of lakes and freshwater lagoons. It also occasionally occurs in brackish lagoons, mangroves, and tidal estuaries. It favors open landscapes rather than dense forest. In elevation it is mostly found below 1,200 m (3,900 ft) but occurs as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Venezuela.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Amazon kingfisher is generally believed to be sedentary but there are records of vagrancy.<p>The Amazon kingfisher usually hunts from a perch from which it dives into water for its prey. Occasionally it hovers before diving. Its diet is mostly fish, especially those of family Characidae, and crustaceans.<p>The Amazon kingfisher's breeding season varies geographically. It is generally in the first half of the year in Central America but has not been detailed elsewhere. Both members of a pair excavate a slightly inclined burrow in a river bank or similar feature; it is typically up to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long and has a nest chamber at the end. The clutch size is three or four eggs. Most incubation at night is by the female and during the day by the male. The incubation period is about 22 days and fledging occurs 29 to 30 days after hatch.<p>The Amazon kingfisher makes a "[l]oud, harsh, repeated 'tek' or 'klek'" and a "staccato 'chrit'" that may be extended into a rattle. It also makes "frog-like" calls. Another vocalization is "an accelerating series of clear notes...'see see see...su su su su'" that is thought to be a greeting or alarm call.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-headed Cuckooshrike
Lalage melanoptera
Male has dark slaty-gray head, neck, and upper breast; rest of the body is pale gray, with white on the belly. Wings darker than mantle. Female lacks the black hood, and has a whitish supercilium, brownish-gray upperparts with lightly barred back and rump, and buff-white underparts with wide brown bars. Juvenile is similar to female, but upperparts barred white. Immature similar to female. Song is a series of clear, loud whistles: “pee-pe-pe-pe-pe-twe-twee.” Some notes can be omitted, or additional notes added.
Blackish Pewee
Contopus nigrescens
Small, uniformly dark pewee, elusive in the canopy of humid forests, often at higher elevations in Andean foothills but also apparently patchily in Amazonian lowlands. Usually found perching upright at the top of tall trees. Call is a high “peep” like Tropical Pewee, sometimes double-noted.
Scrub Euphonia
Euphonia affinis
Tiny finch of tropical lowlands and foothills, especially in drier areas. Occurs from eastern Mexico to Costa Rica, where it is found in open woodland, forest edge, and clearings with trees. Usually in pairs, sometimes small groups that associate readily with other euphonias, especially when feeding at mistletoe. Male has black head and throat with yellow forehead patch; female rather drab, but lacks vested appearance of female Yellow-throated Euphonia, which is slightly larger.
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