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ShrublandCavity nestSmall · 42 g
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.
When to see the Grey-headed Kingfisher
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Grey-headed Kingfisher
The map shades 43 countries with regular records, and 2 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.
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.
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.
Side by side: Brown-hooded Kingfisher vs Grey-headed Kingfisher · Grey-headed Kingfisher vs Woodland Kingfisher · Grey-headed Kingfisher vs Striped Kingfisher · Black-capped Kingfisher vs Grey-headed Kingfisher
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