White-breasted Kingfisher

White -breasted Kingfisher

     How to Identify White-Breasted Kingfisher

      White-breasted kingfishers which is also known as White-throated kingfisher  have thick, reddish-orange bills,  legs are red, and dark chocolate-colored heads. Flanks and lower belly are chestnut colored.  A prominent white patch can be found on the throat and sometimes the breast. The wings and tail are bright blue in color with white patches on the primaries and black distal tips. The sexes appear similar. Juvenile birds are generally less brilliantly-colored with duskier bills and less brown on the wings. Young individuals may have a shoulder mark with extensive blue edging. White-breasted kingfishers are the only South Asian kingfisher that is distinctly darker below than it is above. Adult birds size are between 26 cm. to 28 cm. Weigh between 65 to 85 g. and have a wingspan of 110-130 mm.

         Habit And Habit

    White-breasted kingfishers is the most familiar of our kingfishers. It is usually met with single in the neighborhood of  paddy-fields or agricultural areas, near ponds or water bodies,  marshes, lakes in parklands and in mangrove swamps, both near and away from human habitations.
    White-breasted kingfishers are carnivorous, Feeds on a wide range of prey that includes small reptiles, amphibians, large crustaceans, crabs, small rodents, snakes, fish, frogs, grasshoppers, lizards, insects and even birds.
     The call of this kingfisher is a chuckling chake-ake-ake-ake-ake. They are particularly noisy in the breeding season.

          Taxonomy

       Alcedo smyrnensis Linnaeus closely related to H. cyanoventris, and sometimes considered conspecific, but recently found to overlap in range in W Java without interbreeding. Until recently, treated as conspecific with H. gularis. Races perpulchra and fokiensis very similar to and often synonymized with fusca, but perhaps worthy of recognition. Five subspecies currently recognized.
     Recognized subspecies:

      1) Halcyon smyrnensis smyrnensis, one of the two larger subspecies, ranges from the Gulf of Khambhat in India west to Saudi Arabia. This subspecies is bright blue-green above and has pale brown underparts.

      2) Halcyon smyrnensis fusca is a resident in the whole of India and ranges upward into parts of Nepal and Sikkim. This subspecies also has a bright blue-green back, but its belly is more darkly chocolate-colored and it is smaller than H. smyrnensis smyrnensis.

       3) Halcyon smyrnensis perpulchra is found in east Pakistan northern India, Bangladesh, Myannmar, Thailand, Malaysia, southeast China and Taiwan. This subspecies is on the smaller side and is more purplish-blue above than the previous two supspecies.

       4) Halcyon smyrnensis saturatior is found on the Andaman Islands. This subspecies is also purplish-blue, but it is larger than H. smyrnensis perpulchra and it also bears a darker brown belly.

White-breasted kingfisher waiting for prey

           Breeding

       Breeding occurs from February through August, with most activity during the period from April to July. White-breasted kingfishers breed once yearly.
      During the breeding season they call loudly in the mornings from prominent perches including the tops of buildings in urban areas or on wires. The tail may be flicked now and in its courtship display the wings are stiffly flicked open for a second or two exposing the white wing mirrors. They also raise their bill high and display the white throat and front.
      The female White-breasted Kingfisher also employs her wings for signaling during the breeding months. To signal that she is receptive, the female kingfisher approaches the male, partially opens her wings and performs a shivering motion while letting out a repetitive clicking kit-kit-kit… call.
     Halcyon smyrnensis breeds seasonally and in monogamous pairs. According to the literature the formation of pairs has not been properly studied, but it is clear that one male and one female form a cooperative relationship to raise the young. It is not clear if this relationship seasonal or life-long.
     White-breasted kingfishers breed yearly in pairs, but it is unclear if a mated pair will remain together for more than one season.  Breeding begins earliest in India and Sri Lanka. Mating birds dig a 50 cm to 1 m deep burrow into a vertical embankment or wall. The tunnel usual slants upward and terminates in a wider nesting chamber. The floor of this chamber is not lined, but usually becomes scattered with feeding and waste detritus. Both parents share the incubation of their 3 to 7 eggs for an unspecified amount of time. Chicks are  born blind. Once the chicks have hatched, both parents also participate in feeding and caring for the young. The incubation period is from 18 to 20 days.
        Overall there is little data on reproductive behavior in this or other Asian Halcyon species. Time to hatching, time to independence, number of clutches each pair rears and age at sexual maturity are unclear for this species.
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