Grey Headed Kingfisher - Profile | Call

The grey-headed kingfisher, scientific name Halcyon leucocephala has a large distribution from the Cape Verde Islands off the northwest coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal, and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia, and southern Arabia, and south to South Africa.

In this article, I am going to give an overview of grey-headed kingfisher

Grey-headed kingfisher Facts

The sexes are related. The grownup of the nominate race H. l. leucocephala has a pale gray head, black mantle and again, vivid blue rump, wings and tail, and chestnut underparts.

Subspecies H. l. pallidiventris has a darker gray head and paler chestnut underparts, however, are in any other case-related. The beak is lengthy, crimson, and sharp.

This bird grows to a median size of 21 cm (8.three in). The track is a succession of notes, ascending, descending after which ascending once more, changing into more and more strident. The warning name is a collection of sharp notes, “tchk, tchk, tchk, tchk”.

Distribution and habitat

The grey-headed kingfisher is present in tropical and semi-tropical Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Its vary contains 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,

Halcyon leucocephala, or grey-headed kingfisher is also available in 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.

Its typical habitat is woodland, scrub, and cultivated areas, as much as altitudes of about 2,200 m (7,200 ft).

Grey-headed kingfisher Ecology

A dry-country kingfisher of scrub and woodland, solitary or in pairs, usually discovered close to water, however not like most kingfishers shouldn’t be aquatic.

Perches on a department, unmoving for lengthy durations whereas watching the bottom for indicators of bugs or small lizards, bobbing head earlier than diving on prey.

In a look very just like the Brown-hooded kingfisher however with a red slightly than red and black bill and just like the woodland kingfisher, however, the woodland kingfisher lacks the chestnut stomach and has larger protection of cyan feathers on the again.

Nesting / Breeding

Nests in holes in steep riverbanks and are aggressively protecting their nest by repeated dive-bombing of foraging monitor lizards.

It’s parasitized by the larger honeyguide. This species migrates at night time and is commonly killed by flying into obstacles reminiscent of buildings, towers, and powerlines.

Appearance

The Grey-headed Kingfisher look has identical plumage and hues for each sex, in different phrases, monomorphic.

The grownup has a black again and mantle, pale grey head, blue rump, tail and wings, and chestnut underparts. The bill is red, lengthy, and pointed. The eyes are brown and the legs are red.

The grey-headed Kingfisher is around 22 cm in size.

It may be mistaken for the brown-hooded Kingfisher however the grey-headed kingfisher has a crimson slightly than red and black bill.

Grey Headed Kingfisher Diet

The Grey-headed Kingfisher feeds primarily on bugs and invertebrates.

Grey Headed Kingfisher Breeding

The Grey-headed Kingfisher nests in tunnels in steep riverbanks, the place it lays 2 to three eggs. They’re monogamous birds.

The brood parasite for a grey-headed kingfisher is the larger honeyguide.

Grey Headed Kingfisher – Profile | Call | Facts