Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Halcyon malimbica

Large and chunky blue, black, and white kingfisher. Found in rainforest, gallery forest, and thick woodland, mostly in the subcanopy and mid-story. Generally shy and usually detected by voice: an introductory whistle, followed after a pause by a mournful, slightly descending series of “chiew” notes. Similar to Woodland Kingfisher, but separated by its larger size, black patch on the back, blue on the breast, black line behind the eye, and preference for thicker habitats.

识别特征

The blue-breasted kingfisher (Halcyon malimbica) is a tree kingfisher widely distributed across Equatorial Africa. This kingfisher is essentially resident, but retreats from drier savanna areas to wetter habitats in the dry season. This is a large kingfisher, 25 cm in length. The adult has a bright blue head, back, wing panel and tail. Its underparts are white, but it has a blue breast band. The shoulders are black. The flight of the blue-breasted kingfisher is rapid and direct. The large bill has a red upper mandible and black lower mandible. The legs are bright red. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a whistled pu-pu-pu-pu-ku-ku-ku-ku. The blue-breasted kingfisher is a species of a variety of well-wooded habitats. It perches quietly in deep shade whilst seeking food. It is territorial but wary. This species mainly hunts large insects, arthropods, fish and frogs, but will also eat the fruit of the Oil Palm. It has a striking display in which the wings are spread to show the white linings. The nest is a hole in a tree termite nest. A single clutch of two round white eggs is typical.

分类信息

Genus: Halcyon; Family: Alcedinidae; Order: Coraciiformes.

学名
Halcyon malimbica
命名信息
(Shaw, 1812)
Coraciiformes
Alcedinidae
Halcyon

分布与栖息地

迁徙
Resident species

行为

Migration pattern: Resident species.

保护状况

Population trend: declining.

种群趋势
declining

照片

分布

鸟叫声

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