Grey-headed kingfisher
| Grey-headed kingfisher | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Calls recorded in the Samburu Game Reserve, Kenya | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Alcedinidae |
| Subfamily: | Halcyoninae |
| Genus: | Halcyon |
| Species: | H. leucocephala |
| Binomial name | |
| Halcyon leucocephala (Statius Müller, 1776) | |
The grey-headed kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) has a wide distribution from the Cape Verde Islands off the north-west coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia and southern Arabia and south to South Africa.
Description
There are two subspecies; the sexes are similar. The adult of the nominate race H. l. leucocephala has a pale grey head, black mantle and back, bright blue rump, wings and tail, and chestnut underparts. Subspecies H. l. pallidiventris has a darker grey head and paler chestnut underparts but is otherwise similar. The beak is long, red and sharp. This bird grows to an average length of 21 cm (8.3 in). The song is a succession of notes, ascending, descending and then ascending again, becoming increasingly strident. The warning call is a series of sharp notes, "tchk, tchk, tchk, tchk".[2]
Distribution and habitat
The grey-headed kingfisher is found in tropical and semi-tropical Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Its range includes Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[1] Its typical habitat is woodland, scrub and cultivated areas, up to altitudes of about 2,200 metres (7,200 ft).[2]
Ecology
A dry-country kingfisher of scrub and woodland, solitary or in pairs, often found near water, but unlike most kingfishers is not aquatic. Perches on a branch, unmoving for long periods while watching the ground for signs of insects or small lizards, bobbing head before diving on prey. In appearance very like the brown-hooded kingfisher but with a red rather than red and black bill and similar to the woodland kingfisher, but the woodland kingfisher lacks the chestnut belly and has greater coverage of cyan feathers on the back. Nests in holes in steep riverbanks and is aggressively protective of its nest by repeated dive-bombing of foraging monitor lizards. It is parasitised by the greater honeyguide. This species migrates at night and is often killed by flying into obstacles such as buildings, towers and powerlines.[3]
References
- 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Halcyon leucocephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- 1 2 Terry Stevenson; John Fanshawe (2004). Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi. A&C Black. p. 222–224. ISBN 978-0-7136-7347-0.
- ↑ Woodall, P.F. "Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Halcyon leucocephala. |
- (Grey-hooded kingfisher =) Grey-headed kingfisher - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.