Alternative name: White-tailed Kingfisher
- Tanysiptera sylvia
Identification
34cm
- Blue forehead, crown and shoulders
- Blue and black upperparts
- Yellow-apricot underparts
- Black eye band
- White lower rump
- Two long white central tail feathers
- Thick red bill
- Orange legs
Juvenile: duller with short tail feathers and a black bill
Distribution
Australasia: found in New Guinea and Queensland.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies are recognized[1].
- T. s. salvadoriana:
- South-eastern New Guinea (Hall Sound to Kemp Welch River)
- T. s. sylvia:
- Breeds north-eastern Australia (northern Queensland); winters in New Guinea
Black-capped Paradise Kingfisher has recently been split from Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher.
Habitat
Dense tropical rainforests.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest in ground-level termite mounds. The clutch consists of 3-4 white eggs which are incubated by both the adults both also feeding the young who fledge after 25 days.
Diet
The diet includes frogs, lizards and insects.
Vocalisation
Call: tcherwill, tcherwill.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2021. IOC World Bird List (v11.1). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.11.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Birdwatching Australia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Buff-breasted_Paradise_Kingfisher
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
