Nest
In a chamber at the end of a tunnel in a bank of a creek, sometimes an old stump.
Eggs (Guide)
5 or 6; smooth, glossy, pearly white; spherical; about 17 x 14 mm. Incubation: by both sexes.
Young
Probably altricial, nidoclous.
Subspecies
Sometimes placed in genus Ceyx or in Alcyone. Possibly closely related to Cerulean Kingfisher (Alcedo coerulescens).
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
pusilla (Temminck, 1836) - Western Papuan Is, Kai Is and Aru Is through southern New Guinea to D'Entrecasteaux Is (Goodenough, Fergusson), and south to islands in Torres Strait, and north-eastern Cape York Peninsula.
halli (Mathews, 1912) - North-eastern Qld, north to Endeavour River and south to Broad Sound and Keppel Bay.
ramsayi (North, 1912) - Coastal NT from Victoria River, east to western Gulf of Carpentairia including Groote Eylandt and Melville and Bathurst Island and west Cape York Peninsula.
halmaherae (Salomonsen, 1934) - Halmahera, Bacan and Obi (northern Moluccas).
masauji (Mathews, 1927) - Bismarck Archipelago, on New Hanover, New Ireland, Tabar Is, Umboi and New Britain.
bougainvillei (Ogilvie-Grant, 1914) - Solomon Is, from Buka and Bougainville east to Choiseul, Santa Isabel and Florida Is.
richardsi (Tristram, 1882) - New Georgia Group (west-central Solomons).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet