About the Grey-headed Kingfisher
The grey-headed kingfisher is a species of bird in the kingfisher family, Alcedinidae. It is found across large parts of Africa and southern Arabia, from Mauritania through Senegal and the Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia, and south all the way through to South Africa. It is also found in islands off the African coast such as the Cape Verde islands and Zanzibar.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The sexes are similar. The adult of the nominate race H. l. leucocephala has a pale grey head, black mantle and back, bright blue rump, wings and tail, and chestnut underparts. Subspecies H. l. pallidiventris has a darker grey head and paler chestnut underparts but is otherwise similar. The beak is long, red and sharp. This bird grows to an average length of 21 cm (8.3 in). The song is a succession of notes, ascending, descending and then ascending again, becoming increasingly strident. The warning call is a series of sharp notes, "tchk, tchk, tchk, tchk".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in November · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Striped KingfisherHalcyon chelicutiThe striped kingfisher of the nominate subspecies H. c. chelicuti averages 16 to 18 cm (about 6.5 in) from beak to tail.
Black-capped KingfisherHalcyon pileataThis kingfisher is about 28 centimetres (11 in) long.
Blue-breasted KingfisherHalcyon malimbicaThe blue-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher widely distributed across Equatorial Africa.
Learn the Grey-headed Kingfisher for real
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