Giant Kingfisher
| Giant Kingfisher | |
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_male_(cropped).jpg) |
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| Male at Abuko, The Gambia | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Cerylidae |
| Genus: | Megaceryle |
| Species: | M. maxima |
| Binomial name | |
| Megaceryle maxima (Pallas, 1769) |
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| Distribution of the Giant Kingfisher | |
The Giant Kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima) is the largest kingfisher in Africa, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert other than the arid southwest.
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Subspecies [edit]
There are two subspecies, M. m. maxima, found in open country, and M. m. gigantea in the rainforest. The forest race is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than maxima, but the two forms intergrade along the forest edge zone.
Reproduction [edit]
Breeding is from August to January, 3–5 eggs being laid in a riverbank tunnel.
Description [edit]
The Giant Kingfisher is 42–48 cm (16½-18⅞ inches) long, with a large crest and finely spotted white on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring, and the female has a white-spotted black breast band and chestnut belly.
Call [edit]
The call is a loud wak wak wak.
Diet [edit]
This large species feeds on crabs, fish, and frogs, caught in the typical kingfisher way by a dive from a perch.
References [edit]
- ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Megaceryle maxima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Giant Kingfisher |
- C H Fry & Kathie Fry; illustrated by Alan Harris (2000). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04879-7.
External links [edit]
- Giant Kingfisher - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
