Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala)

Other Names (World)
Grey-headed Kingfisher, Gray-headed Kingfisher, Grey-hooded Kingfisher, Gray-hooded Kingfisher, Chestnut-bellied Kingfisher(!)

Family
Alcedinidae (Kingfishers)

Size
20 cm

First Described (Guide)
(M�ller, 1776)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland moist forest, dry forest and shrubland, mangoves. From sea-level - 2,400 m.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman (B), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia (B), Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Yemen (B), Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to United Arab Emirates.

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
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (49)...)

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) [XC591633]
by isaac kilusu from Mandegee farm, oloitoktok, Kenya (call)

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) [XC758769]
by julien Birard from Kranspoort Vakansiedorp, Nkangala District Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa (song)

Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Black-capped Kingfisher (Halcyon pileata). Proposed subspecies centralis, described from Kenya and northern Tanzania, now included within subspecies hyacinthina.

The following 5 subspecies are recognised:

acteon (Lesson, R, 1830) - Cape Verde Is (Brava, Fogo, Santiago).
leucocephala (M�ller, 1776) - Senegambia east to Eritrea and Somalia, south to Gabon, north-eastern Zaire, L Victoria basin and northern Tanzania.
semicaerulea (Gmelin, JF, 1788) - South-western Arabia, from Mecca south to Yemen and east to Oman (Taqa); possibly winters in Somalia.
hyacinthina Reichenow, 1900 - South-eastern Somalia, coastal Kenya and Tanzania (south to Dar es Salaam and west to Pare Mts and Kilosa).
pallidiventris Cabanis, 1880 - Zaire and Tanzania (except east) south to northern Namibia and north-eastern South Africa; southern populations migrate north to Zaire, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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