Skip to main content

Pied Kingfisher

Ceryle rudis
The Pied Kingfisher is one of the most common Kingfishers in the world. You'll find them throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where they live in lowland regions near bodies of water.

Pied Kingfishers are very distinctive in appearance. They have white faces with black masks, stark black bills, and patchy (pied) white and black feathers on their crest, back, and wings. Males and females differ in their chest bands-- males have two, females only one.

Fish are the primary prey of the Pied Kingfisher, though aquatic insects and crustaceans will also be consumed. They hunt by hovering over the water, and once they spot prey they dive in with their large bill first and snatch it up. They can swallow small fish whole, which allows them to hunt longer (rather than returning to a nest to feed).

Pied Kingfishers do their nesting in holes that they dig out in vertical sandbanks. These holes can be more than 4ft long, and can take up to a month to excavate. As many as seven eggs are laid at a time, and mom and dad often have help in raising their brood-- chicks from the previous year often stick around to help out their younger siblings, and non-breeding adults will sometimes also lend a hand.
IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Africa and Asia
Size : length up to 7in (18cm)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Coraciiformes
Family : Cerylidae -- Genus : Ceryle -- Species : C. rudis
Image : Koshyk
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed ...
Post a Comment
Read more