Ultramarine Kingfisher, Male or Female? (1 Viewer)

[Joe H]

The photo below was posted to the Opus section, but I was unsure of the sex of this bird. I am hoping someone more familiar with the species, region, or maybe has a better Kingfisher field guide (or better internet skills) can add their insight.

The reason for my confusion is that my field guide's description and illustrations do not match. I'll attach both below. My guess is that the labels for the two drawings of the bird are swapped, and that the text is more likely to be correct, but again, that's just my guess. I'll attach a link to my gallery page which has details about the picture.

Ultramarine Kingfisher (Todiramphus leucopygius)

This is an Ultramarine Kingfisher, probably female, near "Hell's Point" (site of several WW2 battles) near the city of Honiara on Guadalcanal. It's not a great quality photograph but I don't believe one has been posted on Birdforum yet, so I...

www.birdforum.net

Thank you!

 

[njlarsen]

Birds of the world online agree with the text you are quoting: Male = white collar and back, female lacking white on the back.
Niels

 

[Bewick]

You’re right, they are switched.

Edit- I’m not from there- how can you tell genders apart when the wings are crossed rather then to the side?

 

[Joe H]

I'm not from there either, only lucky enough to have had work trips there. This was the only picture I had worth saving, the others were blurry or too dark, but this bird had a blue back. If one couldn't see the back of an adult, it would not be possible to tell the sex I don't think.

And thank you to njlarsen for the confirmation !!!!

 

[sbarnhardt]

And thank you to njlarsen for the confirmation !!!!

Thanks to both you and @njlarsen .

 

[Bewick]

I'm not from there either, only lucky enough to have had work trips there. This was the only picture I had worth saving, the others were blurry or too dark, but this bird had a blue back. If one couldn't see the back of an adult, it would not be possible to tell the sex I don't think.

And thank you to njlarsen for the confirmation !!!!

I was more referring to the fact that both sexes have a slight patch of white below the nape… If the wings are crossed and the white back is possibly covered (depending on the sex) how can you confidently sex the kingfisher?

 

[Joe H]

Berwick, in the circumstance you describe, I don't believe one could tell.