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Difference between revisions of "Little Kingfisher" - BirdForum Opus

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[[category:incomplete]]
 
;Alcedo pusilla
 
;Alcedo pusilla
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[[Image:Little_Kingfisher.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by mehdhalaouate]]
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[[Image:Little_Kingfisher.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by mehdhalaouate <br/>Photographed: Cairns, Queensland, Australia ]]
 
==Identification==
 
==Identification==
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Photographed: Cairns, Queensland, Australia
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Size 11-12cm. Large, heavy bill and short tail, dark, glossy blue above and white below. White spot before eye and on each side of the neck. Black legs, feet and bill.
  
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Little Kingfisher
 
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Alcedo pusilla
 
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Size 11-12cm. Australia’s smallest Kingfisher and the second smallest Kingfisher in the world. With the Azure Kingfisher, the only Australian members of the Alcedo Kingfishers which are specialists at exclusively deep diving into water for their prey. They have three toes, two of which point forwards.
 
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A tiny, aquatic Kingfisher with large, heavy bill and short tail, dark, glossy blue above and white below. White spot before eye and on each side of the neck. Black legs, feet and bill.
 
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Call a thin, shrill whistle, higher pitched weaker than the Azure Kingfisher and often inaudible to humans. Flight is fast, direct and low over the water.
 
 
==Distribution==
 
==Distribution==
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An uncommon resident of coastal north-east Queensland.
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[[Australia]]
  
 
==Taxonomy==
 
==Taxonomy==
 
==Habitat==
 
==Habitat==
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The Little Kingfisher is a bird of lowland rainforest streams, preferring dark, narrow spaces with overhanging vegetation. May also inhabit lakes, estuaries and coastal mangroves.
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Lowland rainforest streams.
  
 
==Behaviour==
 
==Behaviour==
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It perches low, plunges into the water for fish and small crustaceans and returns to perch. It will often bob its head and wings while watching for prey.  
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Diet includes fish and small crustaceans.
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Breeding is through the Wet Season, particularly January. The nest is in holes in the banks of streams or in rotten logs and at the base of epiphytes or in mangrove roots. Nesting tunnels are 15cm or less long and have a small terminal nesting chamber. Eggs are white and round, with 4-5 being laid. Little is known about incubation. Both parents feed the young.  
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The nest is in holes in the banks of streams or in rotten logs. Nesting tunnels are 15cm or less long and have a small terminal nesting chamber. Eggs are white and round, with 4-5 being laid. Both parents feed the young.  
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An uncommon, but sedentary kingfisher, and one targeted by many birdwatchers to North Queensland.
 
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
 
{{GSearch|Alcedo+pusilla}}
 
{{GSearch|Alcedo+pusilla}}
 
*[http://www.aviceda.org/abid/birdimages.php?action=birdspecies&fid=14&bid=80 View more images of this species on the ABID]
 
*[http://www.aviceda.org/abid/birdimages.php?action=birdspecies&fid=14&bid=80 View more images of this species on the ABID]
 
[[Category:Birds]]
 
[[Category:Birds]]

Revision as of 22:42, 10 October 2007

Alcedo pusilla
Photo by mehdhalaouate
Photographed: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Identification

Size 11-12cm. Large, heavy bill and short tail, dark, glossy blue above and white below. White spot before eye and on each side of the neck. Black legs, feet and bill.

Distribution

Australia

Taxonomy

Habitat

Lowland rainforest streams.

Behaviour

Diet includes fish and small crustaceans.

The nest is in holes in the banks of streams or in rotten logs. Nesting tunnels are 15cm or less long and have a small terminal nesting chamber. Eggs are white and round, with 4-5 being laid. Both parents feed the young.


External Links

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