:''The name chestnut-bellied kingfisher can also refer to the

grey-headed kingfisher The grey-headed kingfisher (''Halcyon leucocephala'') is a species of kingfisher that has a wide distribution from the Cape Verde Islands off the north-west coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia and southern ...

(Halcyon leucocephala) of Africa. The Vanuatu kingfisher or chestnut-bellied kingfisher (''Todiramphus farquhari'') is a medium-sized

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

found only on the islands of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

Malo Mal, which in Spanish means ''bad or evil'', may also refer to: Places *Malo, Italy, a town *Malo Island, formerly known as St. Bartholomew, Vanuatu * Malo (Solomon Islands), an island *Malo, Washington, Ferry County, Washington, United States * ...

and

Malakula Malakula Island, also spelled Malekula, is the second-largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides, in Melanesia, a region of the Pacific Ocean. Location Malakula is separated from the islands of Espiritu Santo and Malo by ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. It is dark blue above with richly coloured orange underparts. There is a white spot in front of the eye and a broad black band on the side of the head. It has a white throat and collar. It measures 19–21 cm in length and weighs 32-42 grams. The call is a series of loud, shrill, piping notes. The only other kingfisher in Vanuatu is the

Pacific kingfisher The Pacific kingfisher (''Todiramphus sacer'') is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a wide range throughout the South Pacific islands. It was previously considered a subspecies of the ...

which has paler blue-green upperparts, whiter underparts and a buff stripe above the eye. The Vanuatu kingfisher mainly eats insects, especially beetles, and will also take spiders and small lizards. It usually hunts by perching on a branch and waiting for prey to appear. When it spots something it flies into the air or dives down to the ground or a tree trunk to catch it. The nest is sometimes built in a hole in a

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

but usually a pair will excavate a burrow in a

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

mound in a tree. They dig with their large bill and clear out material with their feet. After about fifteen days the burrow is completed and the termites seal off their sections. Three or four white eggs are laid. The breeding season is mostly from November to February with eggs laid in December. The birds mainly inhabit dense

rainforests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

in the interior of the islands, particularly above 200m. They are believed to be declining due to loss and degradation of the forest.

References

* Heinrich L. Bregulla (1992) ''Birds of Vanuatu'', Anthony Nelson, Oswestry, England * C Hilary Fry, Kathie Fry & Alan Harris (1992) ''Kingfishers, Bee-eaters & Rollers'', Christopher Helm (Publishers) Ltd., London

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1272246 Todiramphus Birds of Vanuatu Birds described in 1899