Gray-headed Kingfisher
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Family: Alcedinidae
Order: Coraciiformes
Class: Aves
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The Gray-headed Kingfisher is a small bird and is usually around 7 inches in length with a stout body. They have short necks, and large heads that are completely feathered with a crest. Their bills are long, strong and straight, and are much deeper than wide at the base. The wings are rather short and the tips are pointed. There are twelve tail feathers. The tail is from one-half to two-thirds as long as the wing and is slightly rounded. The feet are fleshy and relatively small; the first toe is much shorter than the third toe, and connected with the second. The back of the kingfisher is a brilliant cobalt and turquoise with a chestnut colored under part.
DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:
The Gray-headed Kingfisher lives in Africa and is regarded as an woodland bird. It usually lives in the nest cavities of trees. They tend to live near rivers that run across mountainous land that tend to flow more slowly. Plant life and animal life is plentiful in their natural habitat, there is usually abundant food.
BEHAVIOR:
Kingfishers are extremely territorial. These woodland birds have a territorial advertising They sing loudly and repeatedly from a treetop perch, spreading their wings widely, and rotating the body. If an opponent is perched nearby, the kingfisher will dash toward the bird in an attempt to knock it off the perch. These birds are monogamous and pair for life.
DIET:
Gray-headed Kingfishers thrive on insects, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles. They feed in the forests and almost never go near the water.
BREEDING and NESTING:
The Gray-headed Kingfisher breeds at the end of its first year. Their eggs are white and very spherical. These birds have few courtship displays and they fly high in courtship flight, after which they find a suitable place to nest. Both mates look for the perfect place to nest and they usually prefer a hole or cavity in trees.
Sometimes the kingfisher will return to the same nest that it used the previous year. When the female lays her eggs, she sits upright, beak in the air, with wings drooped and juddering, as she utters a pleading call. Meanwhile, the male goes off and comes back to the nest with food, like a present for her hard work. She then takes the food, eats it and continues laying her eggs.
The incubation period is about 20-30 days. The female does not always have to sit on the eggs to keep them warm because the male bird will take turns with her to incubate the eggs. The eggs hatch at about daily intervals, in the sequence of laying, so nestling vary in size.
After the young are hatched, they are cared for in the nest. The offspring are fed by both parents equally. The young are fully feathered at three weeks and spend much of their time preening and stretching their wings. They have black bills and feet and are not as colorful as their parents. Between 24-26 days they leave the nest, although the parents still feed them until they are good at catching their own prey.
STATUS:
The Gray-headed Kingfisher has not, in general, come into contact with man. Man's harmful effects upon kingfishers are more accidental than deliberate, caused by the pollution of fresh waters and the modifications of habitats. Bird catchers destroy many because they are often killed by netting, shooting, and liming, although they are not target species.
LINKS:
(Mahalo to Leeward Community College's Zoology 101 Class for their contribution)
