How do you identify a Society Kingfisher?

The Society kingfisher is around 21 cm (8.3 in) in overall length. Full identification notes are on this page.

How big is a Society Kingfisher?

The Society Kingfisher is a medium sized bird weighing about 65 g.

Where can you see a Society Kingfisher?

The Society Kingfisher is endemic to French Polynesia, which is the only country where it occurs.

What birds look similar to a Society Kingfisher?

The Society Kingfisher is most easily confused with the Blue-black Kingfisher, the Rusty-capped Kingfisher and the Flat-billed Kingfisher.

Society Kingfisher

Todiramphus veneratus

Kingfishers · Coraciiformes · Legendary

The Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus) is a legendary kingfisher found only in French Polynesia, weighing about 65 g. The Society kingfisher or Tahiti kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae.

Not EvaluatedLegendaryEndemicEats omnivoreforestcavity nest65 g

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 1 — Photo: no rights reserved, uploaded by steve b · cc0

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 2 — Photo: Eric Knight · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 3 — Photo: steve b · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 4 — Photo: steve b · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 5 — Photo: steve b · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 6 — Photo: Neil Birrell · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 7 — Photo: Michael Eisen · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 8 — Photo: Patrick Lam · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 9 — Photo: Samuel Brown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Society Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus), photo 10 — Photo: Samuel Brown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

About the Society Kingfisher

The Society kingfisher or Tahiti kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

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

How to identify it

The Society kingfisher is around 21 cm (8.3 in) in overall length. The male of the nominate subspecies on Tahiti has dull olive upperparts with a brownish blue-green head and an aquamarine area behind the eye and on the ear coverts. The underparts are white with a variable broad rusty chest-band. The female on Tahiti is dusky brown above and has a prominent brown breast-band. The male of T. v. youngi on Moorea is pale brown above.

Where it lives

French Polynesia

When to see it

The Society Kingfisher can be seen all year round, with peak activity in September. It is a resident species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Society Kingfisher?: The Society kingfisher is around 21 cm (8.3 in) in overall length. Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Society Kingfisher?: The Society Kingfisher is a medium sized bird weighing about 65 g.
Where can you see a Society Kingfisher?: The Society Kingfisher is endemic to French Polynesia, which is the only country where it occurs.
What birds look similar to a Society Kingfisher?: The Society Kingfisher is most easily confused with the Blue-black Kingfisher, the Rusty-capped Kingfisher and the Flat-billed Kingfisher.

Learn the Society Kingfisher for real

BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.

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