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.
Taxonomy
The first
formal description of the giant kingfisher was by the German naturalist
Peter Simon Pallas in 1769 under the
binomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Alcedo maxima''. The current genus ''Megaceryle'' was erected by the German naturalist
Johann Jakob Kaup
Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...
in 1848.
There are two subspecies:
* ''M. m. maxima'' (Pallas, 1769) – Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa
* ''M. m. gigantea'' (
Swainson, 1837) – Liberia to northern Angola and western Tanzania, island of
Bioko
The nominate subspecies ''M. m. maxima'' occurs in wooded savanna while ''M. m. gigantea'' prefers tropical rainforest.
[
]
Description
The giant kingfisher is long, with a large shaggy crest, a large black bill and fine white spots on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring. The female has a white-spotted black breast band and a chestnut belly.[ The forest race ''M. m. gigantea'' is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than the nominate race, but the two forms intergrade along the forest edge zone.][
The call is a loud ''wak wak wak''.
]
Behaviour
Breeding
In South Africa breeding takes place between September and January, in Zimbabwe from August to March, in Zambia March to April and in Liberia December to January.[
The giant kingfisher is monogamous and a solitary breeder. The nest is a long horizontal tunnel that is excavated into a river bank by both sexes using their feet and bills. The entrance hole is high and wide. The tunnel is typically in length but a tunnel of has been recorded. A clutch of around three eggs is laid in a chamber at the end of the tunnel.]
Feeding
This large species feeds on crabs, fish, and frogs, caught by diving from a perch.
Giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima) female composite.jpg, Female smashing a tilapia against a post to break its spine
Lake Naivasha, Kenya
References
External links
Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the giant kingfisher
* Giant kingfisher
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q731910
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.
Taxonomy
The first Species description, ...
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
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.
Taxonomy
The first Species description, ...
Birds of East Africa