White-breasted Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)

Other Names (World)
White-breasted Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Smyrna Kingfisher

Family
Alcedinidae (Kingfishers)

Size
26.50 - 29.50 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Habitat
Freshwater and coastal wetlands. Marshes, lakes, ponds, rivers and wet ricefields.

Range (Guide)

Afghanistan (B), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Bangladesh (B), Bhutan (B), Cambodia (B), China (mainland) (B), Egypt, Hong Kong (China) (B), India (B), Indonesia (B), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (NB), Israel (B), Jordan (B) (NB), Kuwait (B), Laos (B), Lebanon (B), Malaysia (B), Myanmar (B), Nepal (B), Pakistan (B), Philippines (B), Singapore (B), Sri Lanka (B), Syrian Arab Republic (B), Thailand (B), Turkey (B) (NB), Vietnam (B).

Vagrant to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan (China), United Arab Emirates.

Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East across southern Asia to southern China, south-eastern Asia and Philippines.

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.

Voice
A sharp woodpecker-like 'kyo', 'kya', 'chik' or 'kit'. A thin, short 'pi'. An angry, rattling 'krich-krich...'. Song is a descending tittering trill.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (121)...)

White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) [XC576691]
by Zbigniew Kajzer from Bukit Batok Nature Park, Singapore, Singapore (call, song)

White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) [XC633075]
by Philip Round from Dankuni , Hooghly, West Bengal, India (call)

Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Javan Kingfisher (Halcyon cyanoventris), and sometimes considered conspecific, but recently found to overlap in range in western Java without interbreeding. Populations described as subspecies perpulchra (Myanmar east to Indochina, south to Greater Sundas) and subspecies fokiensis (southern and eastern China, Taiwan) considered inseparable from fusca.

The following 6 subspecies are recognised:

smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Western and southern Turkey south to north-eastern Egypt, and from central Iraq east to Pakistan, extreme north-eastern Afghanistan and north-western India.
fusca (Boddaert, 1783) - India (except north-west) and Sri Lanka east to south-eastern China and Taiwan, and south to Sumatra and western Java.
saturatior Hume, 1874 - Andaman Is.
gularis (Kuhl, 1820) - Philippines. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon gularis).
perpulchra Madar�sz, 1904 - Myanmar to Malay Peninsula and Indochina.
fokiensis Laubmann & G�tz, 1926 - Southern and eastern China; Hainan and Taiwan.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for White-breasted Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) - 10 files

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BirdLife International

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