The sombre kingfisher (''Todiramphus funebris'') 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 lightweig ...

in the family Alcedinidae. It is

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 else ...

to island of

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island. Ha ...

, in North Maluku,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. 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 subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical mangrove forest, subtropical or tropical swamps, and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

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

This is a relatively large kingfisher, measuring up to 28 cm. It has a

piebald A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

colouring with white belly and collar, and olive to black upper parts. The beak is dark. Its call is a slow 'ki-ki-ki'; it may also utter series of three loud wails.

Distribution and habitat

The sombre kingfisher occurs only on

, where it inhabits

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

(frequently close to clearings), swamp-forest, mature secondary woodland, and mangroves. It may visit cultivated areas such as plantations.

Conservation

The species has been protected under Indonesian law since 1931 and benefits from several protected areas. However, it is currently classified as Least concern by the IUCN.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.The Internet Bird Collection
sombre kingfisher sombre kingfisher Birds of Halmahera sombre kingfisher sombre kingfisher Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Coraciiformes-stub