Kingfishers: Alcedinidae

Physical characteristics: Rufous-collared kingfishers are medium-sized, plump kingfishers, with a green crown (top of the head); blue (in males) and buff-spotted green (in females) back; and rufous (red) coloring on and below the collar. The bill is black above and yellow below. Rufous-collared kingfishers are 9 to 9.5 inches (22.9 to 24.1 centimeters) long, and weigh between 2.1 and 3.2 ounces (59.5 and 90.7 grams).

Geographic range: Rufous-collared kingfishers are commonly found on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra.

Habitat: Rufous-collared kingfishers are usually found in dense, lowland rainforests, and sometimes in secondary forests (that is, in forests where new vegetation has formed after the original vegetation of the forest has been destroyed either by nature or by humans). They are found up to 5,600 feet (1,700 meters) above sea level.

Diet: They feed on various arthropods; mostly insects and large scorpions, but also fish, snails, small snakes, and lizards. They catch prey by dropping from a low perch to snatch the prey off the water surface or off the ground. Occasionally, they turn over leaves in search of food.

Rufous-collared kingfishers usually catch prey by dropping from a low perch to snatch the prey off the water surface or off the ground. (Illustration by Brian Cressman. Reproduced by permission.)

Behavior and reproduction: When calling out, rufous-collared kingfishers produce a loud, long whistle that rises in tone. They perch mostly in the middle and lower levels of forests. When perched, they will regularly show a slow bobbing head and pumping tail.

Monogamous (muh-NAH-guh-mus) pairs, birds mated only with each other, usually dig nest burrows in earthen banks, but also use rotten tree trunks. They dig out tunnels that end in a nest chamber about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in diameter. Females usually lay two eggs, which are incubated for about twenty-two days.

Rufous-collared kingfishers and people: There is no known significance between people and rufous-collared kingfishers.

Conservation status: Rufous-collared kingfishers are considered Near Threatened, in danger of becoming threatened with extinction, due to extensive removal of lowland forests, but continue to survive in hill forests and in conserved tracts. ∎