Rufous-collared Kingfisher

Malays Reads ( Actenoides concretus )

The Malays Reads ( Actenoides concretus ) is a Southeast Asian bird of the family of kingfishers.

Features

The Malays Reads reaches a body length of 24 cm and a weight of 70-90 g The male has a green cap, a black eye mask that extends to the neck, a large blue beard Streif. Collar and bottom are in the male red-brown, blue back and tail. The female has a green back and wings green with lighter spots. In flight, the wings rounded and shiny, light blue hull can be seen.

Occurrence

There are known three subspecies:

• The Nominatsform A. c. concretus comes on Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula north to before in the Thai province of Trang.
• A. c. peristephes lives of Trang northward up to Tavoy in Myanmar.
• A. c. borneanus occurs on Borneo.

The Malays Reads is an inhabitant of dense lowland forests. He usually lives at an altitude of 1000 m, at Gunung Kinabalu up to 1700 m.

Behavior

The Malays Reads is a quiet, shy bird. This kingfisher walking alone or in pairs in search of food. From a seated point of view, it hunts mainly on the ground, but also in the foliage and in the water for prey. The diet consists of large invertebrates and small vertebrates, such as cicadas, longhorn beetles, mantis, snails, up to 9 cm long scorpions, small fish, blind snakes and lizards. It can be assumed that the bird is able to remove the sting of scorpions.

Reproduction

The nesting site of the Malays Liests is dug in most cases in a sandbank, in rare cases, even in a rotten tree trunk. The 60 cm long tube has a diameter of 10 cm and ends in a 20 cm large brood chamber. The nest usually consists of two eggs. The nestling period lasts about 22 days.