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Amazon Kingfisher

Chloroceryle amazona

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesRiverineCavity nestMedium · 126 g
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 1
Photo: Zygy · CC0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 2
Photo: Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes from Goiânia, Brazil · CC BY 2.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 3
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 4
Photo: Miguel A. Paixão · CC BY 4.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 5
Photo: Gonzalo Romero · CC BY 4.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 6
Photo: Lucas Mantelo Cruz · CC BY 4.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 7
Photo: Miguel A. Paixão · CC BY 4.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 8
Photo: Emily Franzen · CC BY 4.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 9
Photo: Cecilia Fer Díaz · CC BY 4.0
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), photo 10
Photo: Cecilia Fer Díaz · CC BY 4.0

ID tip

The Amazon kingfisher is about 30 cm (12 in) long. Males weigh 98 to 121 g (3.5 to 4.3 oz) and females 125 to 140 g (4.4 to 4.9 oz). It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are dark grey. Adult males have dark bronzy green upperparts divided by a white collar. They have a white chin and throat, a rich rufous breast with dark green sides, and a white belly with dark green streaks on the side. Voice: The Amazon kingfisher makes a "oud, harsh, repeated 'tek' or 'klek'" and a "staccato 'chrit'" that may be extended into a rattle. It also makes "frog-like" calls. Another vocalization is "an accelerating series of clear notes...'see see see...su su su su'" that is thought to be a greeting or alarm call.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Amazon Kingfisher

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Amazon Kingfisher

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 22 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Brazil Costa Rica Colombia Peru Argentina Panama Ecuador Belize Mexico Honduras Paraguay Uruguay Venezuela Guyana Bolivia Nicaragua Guatemala El Salvador Suriname French Guiana Aruba Curaçao

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States.

About the Amazon Kingfisher

The Amazon kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to northern Argentina.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana) Green KingfisherChloroceryle americanaThe green kingfisher is about 20 cm (8 in) long and weighs about 35 to 40 g (1.2 to 1.4 oz); females are larger and heavier than males. American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chloroceryle aenea) American Pygmy KingfisherChloroceryle aeneaThe American pygmy kingfisher is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Green-and-rufous Kingfisher (Chloroceryle inda) Green-and-rufous KingfisherChloroceryle indaThe green-and-rufous kingfisher is about 24 cm (9.4 in) long.

Side by side: Amazon Kingfisher vs Green Kingfisher · Amazon Kingfisher vs American Pygmy Kingfisher · Amazon Kingfisher vs Green-and-rufous Kingfisher

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