Hombron's kingfisher or the blue-capped kingfisher (''Actenoides hombroni'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Alcedinidae

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and found only on

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. It is one of the most colorful kingfishers in the country having a dark blue (green for females) cap and wings with rufous spots, a striped rufous belly, white chin and red bill . Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are on the upper ranges of tropical moist lowland forest and tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A spectacular medium-sized kingfisher of foothill and montane forest on Mindanao with a thick red bill, a white throat, a blue rump, and faintly scaled rufous on the underparts and cheek, extending around the back of the neck. The male has a blue crown, blue tail, and blue wings with buff spots. The blue is replaced by green in the female. The male also has an additional blue moustache stripe. Unmistakable. More often seen than heard. Song, given at dawn, consists of a single downslurred whistle with a slightly metallic quality, “wee-ooo,” repeated every few seconds." These kingfishers exhibit

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

in which the males have the eponymous dark blue-cap and dark blue wings. The females on the other hand have aqua-green cap and wings.

Habitat and Conservation Status

Its natural

s are on the upper ranges of tropical moist lowland forest and tropical moist

s having a wide altitude range of 100 -2,400 meters above sea level but with majority of records are above 1,000 masl. They are often found close to streams. IUCN has assessed this bird as vulnerable with its population estimated at 2,500 to 9,999 mature individuals and thought to still be decreasing. This species' main threat is

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range. This species appears to show a preference for montane habitats which are most at risk from mining activities especially for

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can s ...

and nickel. It occurs in a few protected areas like

Pasonanca Natural Park The Pasonanca Natural Park is a protected area that preserves a major watershed in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in the Zamboanga Peninsula. It contains the headwaters of the Tumaga River in the southern Zamboanga Cordillera mountain ...

, Mount Kitanglad National Park, Mount Apo National Park and Mt. Hilong-hilong Watershed but as with most areas in the

protection and enforcement are lax.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.

Hombron's kingfisher Hombron's kingfisher or the blue-capped kingfisher (''Actenoides hombroni'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae endemic to the Philippines and found only on Mindanao. It is one of the most colorful kingfishers in the country having a ...

Birds of Mindanao

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Coraciiformes-stub