Azure Kingfisher

Photo by mehdhalaouate
Queensland, Australia, May 2005

Ceyx azurea

Alcedo azurea

Identification

Length 16 cm

• Deep blue to azure back
• Large white to buff spot on side of neck and throat
• Rufous-buff with some blue-violet streaks on breast and flanks
• Red feet
• White lores.

Distribution

Found throughout New Guinea including nearby islands, also the Moluccas, Australia and Tasmania.

Photo by jimmclean
Lane Cove National Park, Sydney, Australia, June 2006

Taxonomy

This species is included in genus Alcedo by some authorities.

Subspecies^[1]

• C. a. affinis:

• Northern Moluccas (Morotai, Halmahera and Bacan)

• C. a. wallaceanus:

• Aru Islands

• C. a. lessonii:

• Lowlands of New Guinea, western Papuan islands and Fergusson Island

• C. a. ochrogaster:

• Northern New Guinea and islands in Geelvink Bay

• C. a. yamdenae:

• Tanimbar Islands (southern Banda Sea)

• C. a. ruficollaris:

• Coastal northern Australia and major offshore outlying islands

• C. a. azurea:

• Coastal eastern and south-eastern Australia

• C. a. diemenensis:

• Tasmania

Habitat

Always spotted near water of some kind; ponds, rivers, lakes and mangroves.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists mostly of fish and insects.

Breeding

It nests in a chamber up to 1 metre long in an earthen creek bank. 5-7 white, rounded, glossy eggs are laid.

Vocalisation

The voice is a high-pitched, shrill, pseet-pseet.

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.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Azure Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Azure_Kingfisher

External Links

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