Woodland kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis cyanoleuca)

The woodland kingfisher (''Halcyon senegalensis'') is a

tree kingfisher The tree kingfishers, also called wood kingfishers or Halcyoninae, are the most numerous of the three subfamilies of birds in the kingfisher family, with around 70 species divided into 12 genera, including several species of kookaburras. Th ...

that is widely distributed in Africa south of the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

Taxonomy

The Southern Africa naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

included the woodland kingfisher with 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 senegalensis'' in the twelfth edition of his '' System Natureul'' which was published in 1766. Linnaeus based his formal description on "Le Grand Martin-Pescher du Sénégal" that the French naturalist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

had described and illustrated in 1760. The current genus ''Halcyon'' was introduced by the English naturalist and artist

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

in 1821, with the woodland kingfisher as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''H. s. fuscopileus'' Reichenow, 1906 – Sierra Leone to south Nigeria and south to DR Congo and north Angola * ''H. s. senegalensis'' (Linnaeus, 1766) – Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and north Tanzania * ''H. s. cyanoleuca'' (

Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collect ...

, 1818) – south Angola and west Tanzania to South Africa

Description

This is a medium-sized kingfisher, in length. The adult has a bright blue back, wing panel and tail. Its head, neck and underparts are white, and its shoulders are black. The flight of the woodland kingfisher is rapid and direct. The large bill has a red upper mandible and black lower mandible. The legs and feet are dark grey. Some birds may have greyish heads, causing confusion with mangrove kingfisher. However, the lores are dark, creating a dark stripe through the eye (the stripe does not extend through the eye in mangrove kingfisher), and the underwing, primaries and secondaries are black with white underwing coverts (there is a black carpal patch on the white coverts in mangrove kingfisher). The inner webs of the base of the flight feathers are white, creating an indistinct white wingbar (white completely absent from wings in mangrove kingfisher). The breast is white (tends to be much greyer in mangrove kingfisher). The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults and have a brown bill. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a loud trill sounding like a nail run down the teeth of a comb.

Distribution and habitat

The woodland kingfisher is widely distributed in tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

south of the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

and from

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

northwards. This

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, ...

is essentially resident within 8° of the equator, but northern and southern populations are migratory, moving into the equatorial zone in the dry season. It is a common species of a variety of wooded habitats with some trees, especially

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

s, including around human habitation. Although it is a "kingfisher", it prefers drier habitats in more traditional woodland and can be far from water. It is often solitary but can occur in small groups. Halcyon senegalensis prey

Behaviour

The woodland kingfisher is aggressively territorial, attacking intruders including humans. It has a striking display in which the wings are spread to show the white linings.

Breeding

The nest is a tree hole excavated by a

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

or barbet. A single clutch of three round white eggs is typical. The young are cared for by both parents for up to five weeks after leaving the nest. Woodland Kingfisher breeding in the Transvaal takes place from November till March, thus, taking a peak in December and January.

Feeding

It hunts from an exposed perch, often on a dead branch of a tree, or perches quietly in semi-shade while seeking food.

Interspecific relationships

The medium-sized, electric-blue-backed kingfisher distribution overlaps almost everywhere with the Brown-hooded Kingfisher H. albiventris, and they frequently occur alongside each other. Although it is similar to the Mangrove Kingfisher in appearance, the two are largely allopatric, use different habitats and differ in diet.

References

External links

* Woodland kingfisher
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the woodland kingfisher
{{Taxonbar, from=Q838793

woodland kingfisher The woodland kingfisher (''Halcyon senegalensis'') is a tree kingfisher that is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. Taxonomy The Southern Africa naturalist Carl Linnaeus included the woodland kingfisher with the binomial na ...

Birds of the Gulf of Guinea Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Birds of East Africa