Giant Kingfisher
Megaceryle maxima
A massive, chunky, black, white, and chestnut kingfisher with a huge dagger-like black bill and a small crest. Sexes differ in the location of chestnut plumage: upper breast on the male, belly and underwings on the female. Pairs patrol freshwater rivers, lakes and swamps, and saltwater estuaries, mangroves and coastlines, hunting for fish, crabs, frogs and invertebrates. Draws attention to itself with raucous harsh and rapidly repeated “kek” and “kakh” calls.
识别特征
The giant kingfisher is 42–46 cm (16.5–18 in) long, with a large shaggy crest, a large black bill and fine white spots on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring. The female has a white-spotted black breast band and a chestnut belly. The forest race M. m. gigantea is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than the nominate race, but the two forms intergrade along the forest edge zone.<p>The call is a loud wak wak wak.
分类信息
The first formal description of the giant kingfisher was by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1769 under the binomial name Alcedo maxima. The current genus Megaceryle was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848.<p>There are two subspecies:<p>The nominate subspecies M. m. maxima occurs in wooded savanna while M. m. gigantea prefers tropical rainforest.
- 学名
- Megaceryle maxima
- 命名信息
- (Pallas, 1769)
- 目
- Coraciiformes
- 科
- Alcedinidae
- 属
- Megaceryle
分布与栖息地
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
In South Africa breeding takes place between September and January, in Zimbabwe from August to March, in Zambia March to April and in Liberia December to January.<p>The giant kingfisher is monogamous and a solitary breeder. The nest is a long horizontal tunnel that is excavated into a river bank by both sexes using their feet and bills. The entrance hole is 11 cm (4.3 in) high and 15 cm (5.9 in) wide. The tunnel is typically 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length but a tunnel of 8.5 m (28 ft) has been recorded. A clutch of around three eggs is laid in a chamber at the end of the tunnel.<p>This large species feeds on crabs, fish, and frogs, caught by diving from a perch.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Izu Thrush
Turdus celaenops
Handsome songbird found only on Izu, Tokara, and a few other islands off the coast of Japan, where fairly common, most abundant in broadleaf evergreen forests. Male orange-brown above, rich orange below, with black hood, yellow bill, and yellow eyering. Female lacks male’s hood and intense colors; very similar to female and young Brown-headed Thrush but has extensive black spotting on the undertail coverts. Song recalls Japanese Robin’s.
Black Eagle
Ictinaetus malaiensis
Large and distinctive dark eagle of forested mountains and hills. Adults appear all dark from a distance, but closer inspection reveals pale barring on the primaries, secondaries, and undertail, as well as a bright yellow bill and feet. Readily separated from other large birds of prey in range by structure as well as coloration; Black Eagles have broad wings with distinct “fingers”(emarginated primaries) in the tip, as well as a long tail that is fan-shaped when open and slightly wedge-shaped when closed.
Chestnut Seedeater
Sporophila cinnamomea
Handsome seedeater. Males are mostly chestnut with a gray cap, wings, and tail, while females are sandy-colored and difficult to separate from other female seedeaters. Rare; found in marshy areas with tall grass, migrating north in the austral winter.
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