Forest Kingfisher
Female, Wurruma Swamp, June 2023.
I used to get these birds mixed up with the Little Kingfisher but the lower pinkish strip on the bill helps me to hopefully identify them properly. Let me know if I have one wrong.
The incomplete white neck collar on this bird indicates it is a female.
Male ready to dive down on it’s prey below, Wurruma Swamp, June 2023.
With the white neck collar going all the way around this would be a male. They hunt from low branches and feed on aquatic life, insects, small reptiles and worms.
They will often pounce down on their prey and then return to the branch from which they departed. There they smash their prey against the branch to kill it before throwing their head back to swallow.
Wurruma Swamp, April 2021.
The eyes are dark brown with the white patch in front. Underparts are white with sometimes buff flanks as shown above.
Wurruma Swamp, June 2023.
They have violet blue upper parts with a turquoise blue back. Quite stunning in the right light.
Hastie’s Swamp, October 2021.
An interesting fact about these birds is that they form their nest in an arboreal termite mound by flying straight at them from several metres away striking it with force to form the nest hole.
Wurruma Swamp, June 2023.
Tablelands Swamp, April 2021.