Blue-breasted kingfisher

Halcyon malimbica

Photo by Manu Romero (MRP Animales)

Common name:
blue-breasted kingfisher (en); guarda-rios-de-peito-azul (pt); martin-chasseur à poitrine bleue (fr); alción pechiazul (es); zügelliest (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Coraciiformes
Family Alcedinidae

Range:
This species is found in sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to Uganda and Tanzania, northern D.R. Congo and northern Angola.

Size:
These birds are 20-30 cm long and weigh 65-95 g.

Habitat:
The blue-breasted kingfisher is mostly found in moist tropical forests, but also in mangroves, flooded grasslands, inland wetlands such as lakes, river and freshwater marshes, and nearby dry savannas and plantations. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.800 m.

Diet:
They feed on large insects and other arthropods, frogs, fishes and also the fruits of oil palms.

Breeding:
Blue-breasted kingfishers can breed all year round, varying between different parts of their range. They nest in holes excavated into arboreal termite nests, usually 6-10 m above the ground. There the female lays 2 eggs which are incubated for 18-22 days. There is no information regarding the length of the fledgling period.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as widespread and uncommon to common. The population is suspected to be declining locally owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Laughing kookaburra

Dacelo novaeguineae

Photo by Richard Taylor (Wikipedia)

Common name:
laughing kookaburra (en);  cucaburra-comum (pt); martin-chasseur géant (fr); cucaburra común (es); jägerliest (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Coraciiformes
Family Alcedinidae

Range:
These birds are found in eastern and southern Australia and have recently been introduced to Tasmania, south-western Australia and New Zealand.

Size:
Laughing kookaburras are 40-45 cm long and have a wingspan of 56-66 cm. They weigh 190-465 g.

Habitat:
They are mostly found in dry and open eucalyptus forests and woodlands, but also along rivers and streams, in agricultural areas and in wooded areas within urban areas.

Diet:
These birds eat insects, such as beetles and grasshopper, insects, worms, crustaceans and also small snakes, mammals, frogs and some birds. They catch their prey by pouncing from a suitable perch.

Breeding:
Laughing kookaburras breed in August-January. They are monogamous and believed to pair for life, but offspring from the previous year often help incubate and raise the chicks. They nest in a tree cavity, either a natural cavity or a burrow excavated in an arboreal termite mound, about 10 m above the ground, where the female lays 2-4 white eggs. The eggs are mainly incubated by the female, but also the male and the helpers for 24-29 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and the helpers and fledge 32-40 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as widespread and common.
The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction, but the laughing kookaburra is not threatened at present.

Pied kingfisher

Ceryle rudis

Photo by Tarique Sani (Flickr)

Common name:
pied kingfisher (en); guarda-rios-malhado (pt); martim-pêcheur pie (fr); martím pescador bicolor (es); graufischer (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Coraciiformes
Family Alcedinidae

Range:
This species is found throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, in Egypt and the Middle East as far north as Turkey and as far east as southern Iran, and also in southern Asia, from Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, throughout India and into southern China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Size:
These birds are 25-29 cm long and weigh 70-100 g.

Habitat:
The pied kingfisher is found in a wide range of fresh and salt water habitats, including slow-moving rivers, estuaries, mangroves, lakes, tidal rock pools, lagoons, dams and reservoirs with some nearby trees or man-made structures suitable for perching.

Diet:
They mainly hunt fish, especially Cichlidae, Cyprinidae, Characidae and some Clupeidae. They also take aquatic insects such as dragonflies and their larvae, water bugs, water beetles, some grasshoppers and crickets, crustaceans and more rarely frogs, tadpoles and molluscs.

Breeding:
Pied kingfishers are monogamous, cooperative breeder, with non-mated birds helping raise the offspring of a mated pair. The helpers are usually the offspring from the previous year. They can breed all year round, varying between different part of their range. Both sexes build the nest, a long tunnel excavated on a vertical sandbank, and nests may be isolated or in colonies of up to 100 birds. The female lays 1-7 glossy white eggs, which she mostly incubates alone for 17-18 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and the helpers, fledging 24-29 days after hatching. They only become fully independent 1-2 months after fledging.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and is described as abundant, in fact being one of the most common kingfishers in the world. This species may benefit from human dams and fish farms, but is also negatively affected by poisons which are bioaccumulated on their fish prey.