Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting)

Other Names (World)
Blue-eared Kingfisher, Deep-blue Kingfisher, Malaysian Kingfisher

Family
Alcedinidae (Kingfishers)

Size
15 - 17 cm

First Described (Guide)
Horsfield, 1821

Habitat
Streams and creeks in primary lowland dipterocarp forest, peatswamp forest and mangroves. From sea-level - 1,100 m.

Range (Guide)

Bangladesh (B), Brunei Darussalam (B), Cambodia (B), China (mainland) (B), India (B), Indonesia (B), Laos (B), Malaysia (B), Myanmar (B), Nepal (B), Philippines (B), Singapore (B), Sri Lanka (B), Thailand (B), Vietnam (B).

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Solitary.

Food
Aquatic invertebrates, small fish.

Voice
A sort, high-pitched 'tseet' uttered in flight.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (33)...)

Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) [XC604619]
by Prayitno Goenarto from Sumatra, Kabupaten Pelalawan, Riau, Indonesia (song)

Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) [XC33438]
by Desmond Allen from Sungai Wain Protection Forest, East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia (call)

Nest
In a burrow excavated in steep mud banks along forested waterways, roads, usually near running water.

Eggs (Guide)
3; white.

Subspecies
May be part of the superspecies that includes Shining-blue Kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys), Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus) and Bismarck Kingfisher (Ceyx websteri). Some uncertainty over subspecies in southern India: possibly only coltarti present there, with phillipsi confined to Sri Lanka. Subspecies scintillans intergrades with verreauxii.

Various other described subspecies include laubmanni (eastern India), amadoni (Palawan), subviridis (Banyak Is, Nias I), callima (Batu Is) and proxima (Mentawai Is), but these are not now considered sufficiently distinct.

The following 11 subspecies are recognised:

coltarti Baker, ECS, 1919 - Southern India (except Kerala), and Nepal east to Myanmar, Thailand and Indochina.
phillipsi Baker, ECS, 1927 - Kerala and Sri Lanka.
rufigastra Walden, 1873 - Andaman Is.
scintillans Baker, ECS, 1919 - Southern Myanmar (southern Tenasserim) and northern peninsular Thailand.
verreauxii De La Berge, 1851 - Southern peninsular Thailand and Malaysia south to Riau Archipelago, Bangka and Belitung, and east to Borneo, Palawan, Sulu Is.
meninting Horsfield, 1821 - Sumatra, including islands off western coast, and Java east to Lombok, also Sulawesi and Banggai and Sula Is.
laubmanni Mathews , 1925 - Eastern India.
proxima Richmond, 1912 - Pagai Islands (Mentawi Archipelago off western Sumatra).
subviridis Oberholser, 1912 - Nias I. (off north-western Sumatra).
callima Oberholser, 1912 - Batu Islands (off western Sumatra).
amadoni duPont, 1971 - Southern Philippines (Balabac, Busuanga and Culion).

Similar Species
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) which has rufous ear-coverts, and upperparts having a slight greenish tinge, and underparts being paler rufous.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) - 10 files

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