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| WHITE-COLLARED
KINGFISHER |
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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
white-collared
kingfisher |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Aves |
| ORDER: |
Coraciiformes |
| FAMILY: |
Alcedinidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Halcyon chloris |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Collared kingfishers have a turquoise head and wings
with a broad, white collar bordered by a narrow,
black line. They have white chest feathers, black
feet and bill. Males tend to have a slightly more
blue tinge, while females tend to have a slightly
more green tinge. Juvenile birds are duller in color
with a broader black collar band and tiny black
scallops across their breast. |
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| DIET: |
Fish,
crabs and prawns, lizards, small snakes, insects,
tadpoles, and earthworms |
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| INCUBATION: |
No
data |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
2-4 eggs |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
10 years in managed conditions |
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| HABITAT: |
Open grasslands, shallow water, mudflats, and beaches |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Abundant - the most common kingfisher in Singapore |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
No data |
| CITES |
No
data |
| USFWS |
No
data |
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| 1. |
These birds perform courtship flights and the male
may offer the female small tokens. Both parents
make the nest, digging out a hole in dead trees
or palms and sometimes take over woodpecker holes,
or even burrowing into the active nests of ants
and termites. The female begins incubating the clutch,
and then the male takes over incubation later. |
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| 2. |
Kingfishers are perch-and-wait hunters, sitting
on a branch, post, fence, mound or wire above the
ground and waiting for their prey. When larger prey
is caught, they pound it against the perch. They
also hammer shells against stones to get at the
mollusk or hermit crab inside. Sometimes, they will
take prey from other birds. |
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| 3. |
Collared kingfishers are reportedly aggressive towards
their own kind as well as other kingfisher species. |
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| 4. |
Kingfishers'
trademark blue coloring is not an actual pigment
on the feathers. Rather there are layers within
the feathers that reflect only blue wavelengths
of light. So, as kingfishers fly, their color may
change from blue to green. |
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| 5. |
Kingfishers
use a variety of laughing calls from a quiet chuckle
to a harsh, loud "kek-kek, kek-kek" to
communicate. |
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The collared kingfisher is not considered at risk
in Singapore. In the past, they were mostly found
along the coasts and mangroves, but they have moved
inland to hunt along freshwater wetlands, cultivated
lands, gardens and parks. |
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| Bucknill,
J. and Chasen, E. Birds of Singapore and Southeast
Asia. Tynron Press, 1990. |
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Sen,
Yong Hoi (ed.), Singapore: Kingfishers and
Woodpeckers. Didier Millet, 1998.
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Seng,
Lim Kim and Gardner, Dana. Birds: An Illustrated
Field Guide to the Birds of Singapore. Sun
Tree Publishing Ltd., 1997.
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| Strange,
Morten. Tropical Birds of Malaysia and Singapore.
Periplus Editions, 2000. |
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