Blyth’s Kingfisher      Alcedo Hercules 

Etymology: 

• Alcedo : Latin word for Kingfisher

• Hercules : Greek mythological hero, strongest man on earth, half god- half man 

Distribution: Size of 22–23 cm. The male has black head feathers with glossy bright blue tips, black lores with buffy streak above, buffy-white neck patch. The mantle to uppertail-coverts is brilliant cobalt-blue, with purple wash to rump and uppertail-coverts. The tail is dark ultramarine-blue; scapulars and wings are blackish green, upperwing-coverts are tipped with cobalt. The chin and throat are buff-white. It has a large blackish-blue breast patch, rest of underparts are rufous. the bill is black; iris is reddish brown; legs and feet are red. The female is similar to male but has red base to mandible.

Habitat: It is found in streams and small rivers in deep ravines, hilly country and evergreen forest; in forest streams bordering well-wooded farmland. It occurs from 200 m to 1200 m.

Food habits: It eats fish. It hunts from from low, concealed perch in bushes overhanging water, it dives in for a fish and returns with it to perch. The perches are used repeatedly.

Breeding habits: They breed in Mar–Jun, in NE India. They nest in bank of forest stream or vertical face of forest ravine. The nest is a tunnel straight, initially inclining and then declining to nest-chamber, built in sandy soil. They lay a clutch of 4–6 eggs. Both the sexes incubate and sit very tight. The nest becomes foul with faeces and decaying food remains. This acts as a deterrent to predators.