- Actenoides bougainvillei
Includes: Guadalcanal Moustached Kingfisher; Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher
Identification
30-32 cm. A distinctive, large kingfisher.
- Orange-rufous head, mantle and underparts
- Purple-blue back, scapulars and tertials
- Purple-blue eyestripe, meeting across nape
- Purple-blue moustache, wings and tail
- Pale bue rump
- Red bill, feet and legs
- female excelsus is more extensive green on back and has paler underparts
Females are similar to males but with olive-green lower back, scapulars and tertials. Juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
Found on Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) and Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands).
A rare species, not reliably reported from Bougainville since the 1930's, however a pair obviously seen at a nest-hole in late 1980's. More common but very locally on Guadalcanal.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recongized, sometimes split in two species:
- A. b. bougainvillei on Bougainville (Solomon Islands)
- A. b. excelsus on Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands)
Habitat
Moist lowland forest and montanes.
In the 1990's heard calling from patches of closed-canopy montane forest between 1000 and 1550m, not recorded in secondary forest.
Behaviour
Diet
Reported to take stick-insects and frogs.
Breeding
No detailed information. Reported to nest in holes in riverbanks, in the ground and in arboreal ant nest.
Movements
Presumably a sedentary species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.4). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Moustached Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Moustached_Kingfisher
