Giant Kingfisher

Description:

The Giant Kingfisher is the largest kingfisher in Africa. This is a male posing for the camera.

Habitat:

Spotted at a river crossing at Timfenheni River, same habitat as the the Nile Monitor lizard.

Notes:

There are two subspecies, M. m. maxima, found in open country, and M. m. gigantea in the rainforest. The forest race is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than maxima, but the two forms intergrade along the forest edge zone.