Woodland Kingfisher

Description:

This tree kingfisher is about 20 to 22cm long, with distinctive powder blue wing covers. It has whitish-greyish underparts, and a light blue coat, coming up to the nappe or crown. There is also a blackish stripe from the eye to the base of bill. The bill is large and sports red upper mandible and black lower mandible.

Habitat:

This is a very common sub-Saharan species of tree kingfisher, seen almost all over the continent (south of Sahara), except parts of Southern Africa. Here, seen in well-wooded area on banks of Awasa (or Hawasa) lake in Ethiopia, protected natural area very close to the town of Awasa... Its normal habitat are woodlands, forests and savannas.

Notes:

This place is one of the bird-watching (and nature-watching in general) paradise spots Ethiopia can offer - It is rather spectacular at any time of the day, but it is pure magic early in the morning, at dawn...