Alternative names: Blue-headed Kingfisher; Black-headed Kingfisher
- Actenoides monachus
Includes Black-headed Kingfisher
Identification
31–32 cm, 12.2 - 12.6 inches. 150 g
Male
Photo © by codexluminati
Tangkoko, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 2014
- Blue head
- Brown iris
- Red beak
- Green upperparts and wings
- Rufous collar and underparts
- White throat
- Greeny blue tail
- Legs and feet orangey red
Female
- Similar to male
- Ear coverts and cheeks dark reddish brown
- Forehead and supercilium orangey red
Distribution
South-east Asia: endemic to Indonesia where found on Sulawesi and adjacent Manadotua and Lembeh islands.
Taxonomy
Subspecies capucinus is frequently treated as a separate species.
Subspecies
Two subspecies recognized [1]:
- A. m. monachus: Northern and central Sulawesi, Manadotua and Lembeh islands
- A. m. capucinus: Black head Kingfisher: Eastern, south-eastern and southern Sulawesi
Habitat
Dense tropical moist lowland forests, usually no higher than 900 m.
Behaviour
A forest kingfisher.
Diet
Their diet consists of large centipedes, beetles, etc. Perches silently at 1-5m in understorey or midstorey sections, mainly close to the trunk of trees or fallen trees then diving for food in leaf litter. Possibly partly crepuscular.
Breeding
Most likely lays eggs in February and March. Records show that recently fledged juveniles found in April. Eggs found in nest in March. Nest found in an excavated termites nest with an entrance tunnel of 5 cm in diameter, 23 cm long, ending in nesting chamber of 15 cm diameter.
Vocalisation
Long, musical, up and down whistles, repeated after six seconds; also shorter at about 2 seconds. Slowly ascending “huuuu”, after a short pause a sad slightly higher “wéééé”, ending in a short suppressed, lower “uu”, repeated after approximately 6 seconds. Calls mostly around sunrise and later in day if it is overcast; brash “raak-raak-kraaa” alarm call.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2015)
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Green-backed Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Green-backed_Kingfisher
