Crested Kingfisher - BirdForum Opus

Pair- Female(L) Male(R) Ssp. M. l. continentalis
Photo by Alok Tewari
Dist. Nainital, India, Oct.-2011

Megaceryle lugubris

Ceryle lugubris

Identification

41cm

• Black and white barred above
• White underparts
• Rufous breast band (male)
• White specked breast band (female)
• Barred wings and tail
• Spotted breast
• Pink cinnamon underwing-coverts

Female, subspecies guttulata
Photo by Yeshey Dorji
Begana, western Bhutan, November 2004

Distribution

Asia: found in Russia, Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, Japan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Male Ssp. M. l. continentalis
Photo by Alok Tewari
Kainchi Ashram, Bhowali, India, April 2011

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• M. l. continentalis:

• Western Himalayas (Kashmir to central Bhutan)

• M. l. guttulata:

• Eastern Himalayas to China, Myanmar and Thailand; winters to Hainan

• M. l. pallida:

• Southern Kuril Islands and Hokkaido

• M. l. lugubris:

• Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu

Habitat

Mountain rivers, and large foothill rivers.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes fish.

References

1. 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/
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. Arthur Grosset

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Crested Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Crested_Kingfisher

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