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Project Noah Nature School
Halcyon pileata
Black cap, white throat and collar, blue black back and wings with white window on wings and greenish wing tips. Bright orange red beak, rufous underbelly and feet. at 29 - 31.5 cm long this is a medium to small size kingfisher for this area. Although often takes other food items, here it was fishing in the huge Angkor Wat moat.
Common through India, and Southeast Asia, we saw several individuals of this species around the Siem Reap area. Usually a coastal species where it breeds in mangrove forests, it loves the Tonle Sap and Great Lake area and the moats and lakes in Siem Reap area. Forest edges with water, flooded forests, clearings in forests with water.
Winter visitor in Cambodia.
Spotted on Nov 25, 2014
Submitted on Dec 16, 2014
6 Comments
Singapore....maybe next time!
It is supposed to be seen easily at Pasir Ris park in Singapore but I have never seen it there! It is a great spot for Kingfishers though, not sure how many species I got in one picture, I think I'll stick at 4 to be on the safe side. Maybe I'll see one next time if it happens again.
Well I see that there are only 2 other spottings for it on PN, both from Thailand so it may not be as common as I thought! The other 2 spottings are from Thailand but Siem Reap area moats and lakes would be a good place to start looking Malcolm! Birds of Southeast Asia calls it a fairly common winter visitor throughout SE Asia. Good luck! We also saw it while boating in the flooded forest area near Prek Toal. Now that is a place you would love to bird!
In all the years I have spent in Asia I have never seen this one!
Thanks Hema! We have just come home after being in Cambodia for 3 months. Most of our time was spent volunteering but we did spend some time exploring too. The 2 days we spent in the Siem Reap area (Angkor Wat) and the Tonle Sap Lake were amazing, including the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary which was fascinating. I would love to go back some day:)
lovely!!How long are you going to be in Cambodia?