Malachite Kingfisher - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by MikeB
Cuango river valley pond, northern Angola

Corythornis cristatus

Alcedo cristata
Includes: Sao Tome Kingfisher

Identification

Juvenile
Photo © by Mybs
Wilderness National Park, South Africa

13 cm (5 in)

Rufous supraloral spot
Bright blue upperparts
Green on crown
White streak on sides of neck
Orange-chestnut underparts and face
The crest is not usually raised

Similar Species

Looks similar to the African Pygmy Kingfisher, but the Pygmy has no crest and is a woodland rather than a waterside bird.

Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, Lesotho, eSwatini
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Sao Tome, Principe, Madagascar

Taxonomy

Photo © by Claude_
Caprivi Band, Namibia, Africa, 2017

Subspecies

Alcedo cristata has five subspecies:^[1]

C. c. galeritus

Africa south of the Sahara to Limpopo River and Mozambique

C. c. cristatus

Southern Angola, south-western Zambia and Limpopo River south to southern South Africa

C. c. thomensis

São Tomé
Sometimes regarded a full species, Sao Tome Kingfisher.

C. c. nais

Principe - formerly regarded as subspecies of White-bellied Kingfisher

C. c. robertsi

Northern Namibia and southern Angola to north-western Zimbabwe and south-western Zambia

Habitat

Usually found in vegetation around Lakes and rivers .

Behaviour

Will take advantage of fence posts and jetties as a fishing perch.

Diet

Catches anything from prawns and crabs to insect larvae.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
BF Member observations
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2019)

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Malachite Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Malachite_Kingfisher

External Links

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