Stork-billed Kingfisher

Description:

A Stork-billed Kingfisher spotted (at distance!) in Gal Oya, Sri Lanka. The largest of the Kingfishers in Sri Lanka measuring up to about 35cm in size. The stork-billed kingfisher lives in a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers, or coasts. It perches quietly whilst seeking food, and is often inconspicuous despite its size. It is territorial and will chase away eagles and other large predators. This species hunts fish, frogs, crabs, rodents and young birds.

Habitat:

Wetlands

Notes:

Sorry, a poor picture as I was right at the limit of the zoom on my lens. It was perched right on top of a large dead tree trunk as you can see in the second picture which is the actual fully zoomed in size. First picture is heavily cropped and I've sharpened and enhanced slightly to try to bring out more detail.