NSSB

White-throated Kingfisher / White-breasted Kingfisher

by · January 26, 2017

White-throated Kingfisher, Photo: Masud Mushfiq Zaman

সাদা গলা মাছরাঙ্গা/ সাদা বুক মাছরাঙ্গা

Halcyon smyrnensis , (Linnaeus,1758)

রাজ্য / Kingdom: Animalia
বর্গ / Order: Coraciiformes
পরিবার / Family: Alcedinidae
গন / Genus: Halcyon
প্রজাতি / Species: H. smyrnensis

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Description

White-throated kingfisher / White-breasted kingfisher is a fairly common bird. It is about 26-28 cm in length and weighs around 85-90 gm, females being larger than male weighing around 120 gm. It has turquoise blue color and also in the back, wings and tail. Its head, neck and under part is deep chocolate-brown. It has long, heavy, pointed bill which is red in color. Reddish feet and a white wing-patch which becomes prominent during flight. Sexes are alike and juveniles are duller in color. It has a loud crackling call uttered in flight.

Food: Its main dish consist of fish, tadpoles, lizards, large insects, amphibians etc. It catches its prey diving from a perch and before swallowing batters the kill.

Reproductive behavior:Nesting season is mainly from March to July, although it may vary region to region. It builds its nest on the earthen banks of rivers, burrows of old trees. There is a horizontal tunnel which ends in a incubation chamber. Eggs are 4-7 in number, white and spherical. Both parents incubate the eggs.

Habitat: Their habitat range from cultivated and wooded country, ponds, puddles, rain filled ditches, paddy filled, tropical and subtropical dry forests, mangrove vegetation, moist lowland forests, swamps etc.

Distribution: They range from Indian subcontinent, south China, Southeast Asia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Israel, Egypt.

Reference:

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