From Opus

Photo by Neil Fifer
Photo taken: Sydney, Australia

Todiramphus sanctus

Halcyon sancta, Todirhamphus sancta

[edit] Identification

19cm - 23cm

• Turquoise back, rump and tail
• Buff-white underparts
• Broad cream collar
• Broad black eye stripe extending from bill to nape of neck
  

Sexes are similar, although the female is generally lighter with duller upper parts.

[edit] Distribution

Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Loyalty, Kermadec & Solomon Islands, Futuna & Fiji Islands.

Winters north to New Guinea, Indonesia & Melanesia.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• T. s. sanctus:

• Australia to Solomon Islands; winters to New Guinea

• T. s. vagans (norfolkiensis, adamsi) :

• New Zealand, Norfolk, Lord Howe and Kermadec islands

• T. s. canacorum :

• New Caledonia and Isle of Pines

• T. s. macmillani:

• Loyalty Islands

[edit] Habitat

Woodlands, mangroves and paperbark forests, tall open eucalypt forest near water.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet mostly consists of crustaceans, reptiles, insects and their larvae and, occasionally, fish. Hunts from, and returns to, the same low, exposed perch.

[edit] Breeding

The nest hole is excavated by both sexes, normally in a termite mound, but could be a hollow branch or into the river bank. The unlined nest chamber can be as much as 20m above ground. Three to six eggs are laid and cared for by oth adults. The chicks hatch after about 18 days and leave the nest after a further 26 days.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Birds in Backyards

• List of references

[edit] External Links