Azure Kingfisher - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by mehdhalaouate
Queensland, Australia, May 2005

Ceyx azurea

Alcedo azurea

Identification

18 cm (7 in)

Deep blue to azure upperparts
Large white to buff spot on side of neck and throat
Rufous-buff with some blue-violet streaks on breast and flanks
Red feet
Rufous loral spot

Distribution

Found throughout New Guinea including nearby islands, also the Moluccas, Australia and Tasmania.

Photo by jimmclean
Lane Cove National Park, Sydney, Australia, June 2006

Taxonomy

This species is included in genus Alcedo by some authorities.

Subspecies

There are 7 subspecies^[1]:

C. a. affinis:

Northern Moluccas (Morotai, Halmahera and Bacan)

C. a. lessonii:

New Guinea (except for the northwestern lowlands but including Fergusson Island), also the western Papuan islands (Misool, Batanta, and Waigeo) and the Aru Islands

C. a. ochrogaster:

Northern New Guinea and islands in Geelvink Bay

C. a. yamdenae:

Tanimbar Islands (southern Banda Sea)

C. a. ruficollaris:

Coastal northern Australia and major offshore outlying islands

C. a. azurea:

Coastal eastern and south-eastern Australia

C. a. diemenensis:

Tasmania

Subspecies C. a. wallaceanus is no longer recognized.

Habitat

Always spotted near water of some kind; ponds, rivers, lakes and mangroves, estuaries and coastal waters.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists mostly of small fish and insects.

Breeding

It nests in a chamber up to 1 metre long in an earthen creek bank. 5-7 white, rounded, glossy eggs are laid.

Vocalisation

The voice is a high-pitched, shrill, pseet-pseet.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved September 2015)
Wikipedia

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Azure Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Azure_Kingfisher

External Links

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