Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) | Photos, Calls and ID

LCLeast ConcernOmnivore

RiverineCavity nestMedium · 179 g

What the Stork-billed Kingfisher sounds like

Sonogram of the Stork-billed Kingfisher: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.

Recorded by Untung Sarmawi · Call · Melaya, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia · CC0 · via xeno-canto

Recorded by Untung Sarmawi · Song · Melaya, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia · CC0 · via xeno-canto

Recorded by Sunit · Call · Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

It is a very large kingfisher, measuring 35 cm (14 in) in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and olive-brown head. Its underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the stork-billed kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct. Sexes are similar. There are 13 races or subspecies, differing mostly in plumage detail, but P. c. gigantea of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines has a white head, neck and underparts.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Stork-billed Kingfisher

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

Where to see the Stork-billed Kingfisher

Regular range

The map shades 16 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

India Malaysia Sri Lanka Singapore Thailand Nepal Bangladesh Indonesia Philippines Cambodia Vietnam Brunei Myanmar (Burma) China Laos Bhutan

About the Stork-billed Kingfisher

The stork-billed kingfisher, is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. These kingfishers are large and have a heavy bill. The head is brown and the chin is paler coloured. The sexes are similar in coloration. This is found mostly in streams and ponds in lowland areas with tree cover. This kingfisher is sendentary throughout its range.

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

Easily confused with

Brown-winged KingfisherPelargopsis amauropteraThe brown-winged kingfisher is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae.

Great-billed KingfisherPelargopsis melanorhynchaThe great-billed kingfisher or black-billed kingfisher is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae.

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