Moustached Kingfisher
Actenoides bougainvillei
A large, unmistakable blue-and-orange kingfisher. Deep blue wings and tail contrast with pale buffy chest and bright orange head. Has a bright orange bill and unique blue horizontal lines on the face, one starting behind the eye and another starting below the base of the bill. Found in mature undisturbed forest above 800 meters of elevation, though possibly below. Apparently most active at dawn and dusk, perhaps into darkness. Voice little known, but has been heard giving a short, loud bubbling, churring call.
Identification
The average length of this bird is 32 cm. It is large, orange to red bill and purple-blue moustache, wings, and tail.<p>The two subspecies are: <p>The moustached kingfisher is considered least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Taxonomy
The moustached kingfisher belongs to the family Alcedinidae, subfamily Halcyoninae, which are more advanced than the subfamily Alcedininae and more closely related to the subfamily Cerylinae.
- Scientific name
- Actenoides bougainvillei
- Authority
- (Rothschild, 1904)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Actenoides
Range and habitat
It inhabits lowland forest and hill forest in southern Bougainville, and hill and mist forest between 550 m and 1250 m of altitude in Guadalcanal.<p>In the 1950s, local people observed holes in the riverbanks or in the ground in the forest, which were thought to be the nests of moustached kingfishers. However, they are believed to be opportunistic cavity nesters.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The moustached kingfisher is a perch hunter, feeding on insects and small vertebrates. It is capable of fast direct flight due to its rounded wings and a short tail. Its eyes are specialized for accurately sighting prey at a distance. Its head allows it to turn at a wide angle. The species is thought to be territorial as breeding pairs.<p>It has been reported to dive multiple times to clean off the dirt that may adhere from the nest.<p>This bird usually calls before dawn and after dusk. Its call is a loud, ringing laugh, ‘ko-ko-ko-ko’.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
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Dark, long-tailed, sparrow-sized bird of dense thickets. Body plumage is mostly dark gray with a bright rufous cap and wings. An uncommon and patchily distributed resident of tepui slopes and lowland forest; often found near large rock formations and in old disturbed areas in rainforest. Stays close to the ground, rarely emerging from dense cover. Occurs in pairs or small family groups that forage unobtrusively for insects and do not follow mixed-species flocks. Voice is only audible at close range but is usually the first indication of this bird’s presence: it is a low, gravelly note, given repeatedly and irregularly, often sped into a rolling churr. Pale-breasted Spinetail has a similar plumage pattern, but McConnell’s is much darker and occupies forested habitats that Pale-breasted avoids.
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