Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Syma torotoro) [XC502149]
by Ken Behrens from Taman Wisata, Sorong, Papua New Guinea (call)
Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Syma torotoro) [XC435757]
by Marc Anderson from Cook's Hut Camping Area, Iron Range National Park, Queensland, Australia (song)
Nest
In a chamber at the end of a short tunnel in a termites nest, a few meters up in a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4; smooth, glossy, pearly white; rounded; about 26 x 23 mm.
Young
Probably altricial, nidicolous.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Mountain Kingfisher (Syma megarhyncha), with which has possibly hybridized.
Birds from south-eastern New Guinea formerly awarded subspecies meeki, but now considered inseparable from nominate; other forms now subsumed into nominate include tentelare of Aru Is, and pseustes and brevirostris both of south-central New Guinea.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
torotoro Lesson, 1827 - From Aru, West Papuan and Yapen islands and lowlands of New Guinea except the south-east.
flavirostris (Gould, 1850) - Northern Cape York Peninsula.
ochracea Rothschild & Hartert, 1901 - D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago and extreme south-eastern New Guinea.
meeki Rothschild and Hartert, 1901 - South-eastern New Guinea, west to Houn Peninsula in the north and Hall Sound in the south. Now considered inseparable from nominate subspecies.
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