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AZURE KINGFISHER
Photo: C & D Frith
Wet Tropics Rainforest Life
AZURE KINGFISHER:
Alcedo azurea 18 cm
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In Australia the Azure Kingfisher occurs widely on
watercourses and lakes in the north and east that have densely vegetated margins.
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Mostly it is seen skimming over the water in rapid
flight, or plunging for small fishes from a low perch.
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Its call is high pitched and difficult to hear.
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The nest is a hole in a bank close to the water's
edge.
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Around Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodge it is present on watercourses in the rainforest, and at Lake Eacham.
Additional Information:
Environmental Protection Agency
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Courting azure kingfishers may appear as
flashes of blue zig-zagging along streams and rivers as they prepare to produce
the next generation.
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The nest is built in a chamber at the end of a one-metre
tunnel which both sexes help to excavate into the stream bank.
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This chamber is
lined with fish scales, bones and crustacean shells and four to seven rounded
white eggs are laid.
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This is a common type of egg for birds nesting in holes.
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They do not need to be pointed because they are not going to roll away and the
white colour makes them visible to the parent birds in the gloomy chamber.
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This lovely bird lives up to its name. It is indeed a most
glorious colour of blue (the word azure is derived from the Persian word for the
semi-precious stone lapis lazuli).
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Unlike many other kingfishers which feed
on land, it frequents streams and rivers, perching above the water and diving
down when a suitable fish appears.
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It also eats crustaceans and aquatic insects.
Script: Courtesy of Environmental Protection Agency
Photo:
Courtesy of Damon Ramsey
Additional Information: Damon Ramsey
The Azure Kingfisher is one
of the most beautiful of all kingfishers, coloured a bright blue with rufous
underparts. It is usually found near water, where it perches on tree branches
waiting for movement. It often performs a peculiar movement, bobbing with its
head and lifting its tail as it waits. In flight it can be very fast and direct,
and may hover when hunting, plunging down for a quick splash as it grabs its
prey.
Script: Courtesy of Damon
Ramsey
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