| Actual Image
Kingfisher (6)
nick27
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 73 W: 10 N: 141]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif) (516) | This was a giant Kingfisher, found next to the pond of my first hotel one morning, I was able to get very close but was still learning the ropes of my camera meaning the shots were not great.
The Giant Kingfisher, Megaceryle maxima, is the largest kingfisher in Africa, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert other than the arid southwest.
There are two subspecies, M. m. maxima, found in open country, and M. m. gigantea in the rainforest. The forest race is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than maxima, but the two forms intergrade along the forest edge zone.
Breeding is from August to January, 3-5 eggs being laid in a riverbank tunnel.
Giant Kingfisher is 42-48 cm long, with a large crest and finely spotted white on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring, and the female has a white-spotted black breast band and chestnut belly.
The call is a loud wak wak wak
This large species feeds on crabs, fish, and frogs, caught in the typical kingfisher way by a dive from a perch. The number of these birds appears to have declined, possibly as a result of pesticides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Cerylidae
Genus: Megaceryle
Species: M. maxima
Binomial name
Megaceryle maxima
Thanks,
Nick :-) |
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