White throated kingfisher

Description:

These brightly coloured kingfishers were a very common site at both Pench and Kanha national parks, favouring telephone wires or bare tree branches to perch on, although often they were spotted nowhere near water as it mainly eats large crustaceans, insects and earthworms. This is a large kingfisher, 28 cm in length. The adult has a bright blue back, wings and tail. Its head, shoulders, flanks and lower belly are chestnut, and the throat and breast are white. The large bill and legs are bright red.

Habitat:

These ones were seen in Pench, Central India and the subspecies H.s fusco is found in India, Sri Lanka, South China, Taiwan, Sumatra and West Java. However it is part of a 'super species' Halcyon cyanoventris which has four recognized geographic races ranging through parts of Europe inc England and Turkey and through South East asia to the Philippines.