Striped Kingfisher

Striped Kingfisher (H. c.chelicuti ) in Kenya

The Striped Kingfisher (Halcyon chelicuti ) is a bird of the family of Kingfishers ( alcedinidae ). The species was first described by Edward Lord Stanley in the book Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia in 1814 as " Chelicut Kingfisher" Alaudo Chelicuti.

The name of the species chelicuti derived from Chelicut in Ethiopia, the place at which Stanley found the type specimen.

It is with him a very territorial bird that does not tolerate other dogs in his territory. Its territory can be up to 3 acres and 100 large trees. He monitors his territory from a treetop and chirps continuously until well into the afternoon.

Features

The strip Reads the subspecies H. c. chelicuti measures on average 16 to 18 inches from beak to tail. Adult birds have a gray-brown upper plumage, the back and tail feathers are metallic blue. Belly and neck are white, the apex above the eyes is striped gray and white. Beak and upper beak are black, otherwise its beak is red-orange colors.

Occurrence

The species is widespread in sub-Saharan far in Africa. However, in dense forest areas (especially in the Congo Basin ) it is missing. The Striped Kingfisher prefers open forest and bush landscapes, and the open savannah. There are two subspecies:

• H. c. chelicuti
• H. c. eremogiton ( Hartert, 1921) in the northern desert areas of central Mali to the White Nile and eastern Sudan. In southern Mali getting mixed with the other subspecies.

Food

The Striped Kingfisher feeds mainly on locusts followed by another large insects. Small lizards, snakes and rodents are occasionally captured. As highseat he lies in wait for his victims from about 3 m high.