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The Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis), is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range.
Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net
www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there
It is a very large kingfisher, measuring 35 cm in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and olive-brown head. Its underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the Stork-billed Kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct.
Sexes are similar. There are 13 races or subspecies, differing mostly in plumage detail, but P. c. gigantea of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines has a white head, neck and underparts. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a low and far reaching peer-por-por repeated about every 5 seconds, as well cackling ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke.
Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter with Audacity applied
Bangkok's Green lung - I walk in the bushes and for the second time I flush Pink-necked pigeons from the tree sitting 2 meter above me. Impossible to see in the foliage. I ID the birds when they land in a tree across the canal.
Second time and I try to take pictures and I discover one Stork-billed Kingfisher among the pigeons.
Sitting in a tree making this noise I have never heard before. So not sure it was the Kingfisher. The bird dive with a final sound. From behind me another is coming and landing and make the same noise maybe the other bird I could hear very weak when the one in the tree make the noise.
On the picture it looks like the Stork-billed Kingfisher is making the sound
Learned that this sound is the Stork-billed Kingfishers song
Stork-billed Kingfisher nest
Suan Rot Fai, Bangkok - June 2019
Stork-billed Kingfisher bringing food to the babies in the nest
Suan Rot Fai, Bangkok - June 2019
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.
Adults dig their nests in river banks, decaying trees, or tree termite nests. A clutch of two to five round white eggs is typical.
Pelargopsis capensis burmanica by Keulemans
By Keulemans and Bowdler Sharpe - Richard Bowdler Sharpe Family of Kingfishers, published from 1868 to 1871,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1974249
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the Stork-billed Kingfisher was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae. He coined the binomial name Alcedo capensis. Linnaeus based his description on Mathurin Jacques Brisson's "Le martin-pescheur du Cap de Bonne Espérance".
Brisson believed his specimen had come from the Cape of Good Hope region of South Africa. The species does not occur in Africa and it was suggested that the specimen had been obtained on the Indonesian island of Java.
The specimen is now known to have come from near Chandannagar in West Bengal, India. Linnaeus's specific epithet capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. The current genus Pelargopsis was introduced by the German zoologist Constantin Gloger in 1841.
Thirteen subspecies are recognised:
• P. c. capensis (Linnaeus, 1766) – Nepal through India to Sri Lanka
• P. c. osmastoni (Baker, ECS, 1934) – Andaman Islands
• P. c. intermedia Hume, 1874 – Nicobar Islands
• P. c. burmanica Sharpe, 1870 – Myanmar to Indochina and south to north Malay Peninsula
• P. c. malaccensis Sharpe, 1870 – central and south Malay Peninsula, Riau Archipelago and Lingga Islands
• P. c. cyanopteryx (Oberholser, 1909) – Sumatra, Bangka Island and Belitung Island
• P. c. simalurensis Richmond, 1903 – Simeulue Island (off the west coast of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia)
• P. c. sodalis Richmond, 1903 – Banyak, Nias, Batu and Mentawai Islands (off the west coast of Sumatra)
• P. c. innominata (van Oort, 1910) – Borneo
• P. c. javana (Boddaert, 1783) – Java
• P. c. floresiana Sharpe, 1870 – Bali to Flores (Lesser Sunda Islands)
• P. c. gouldi Sharpe, 1870 – north Philippines
• P. c. gigantea Walden, 1874 – central and south Philippines
The insular forms nesoeca on the Nias and Batu Islands as well as isoptera on Mentawai Island are here subsumed within sodalis. Prior to the change of type locality to Chandannagar, the birds in India were placed in the subspecies gurial but this race is now synonymized with the nominate race capensis.
Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 1st of January 2016
Location: Suan Rot Fai/ Queen Sirikit Park, Bangkok
Thank's to Nick Upton at www.thaibirding.com for HOT birding tip for the Bangkok area on his web page. Read his review by clicking HERE
Visit Nick Upton at www.thaibirding.com for HOT birding tips for sites around Bangkok and Thailand. There are reviews of the birding sites with maps and information.
And if you like Nick Upton's web page you will also like www.norththailandbirding.com I have used this page together with Nick Upton's page when planning my birding tours. Excellent reviews and information about the birding sites.
I also got the Thai names of the birds from www.norththailandbirding.com. There is a bird check list with all the names in English and Thai. And of course also the Scientific Name. Down load the birdlist in Microsoft Excel format at www.norththailandbirding.com Or down load the Excel sheet by clicking HERE
PLEASE! As I'm a first time birdwatcher bear in mind that some of the bird can be wrongly named. I have bought book and I confirm on the internet to get the right identity on the birds I take pictures off. But there can still be mistakes.
Stork-billed Kingfisher / นกกะเต็นใหญ่ธรรมดา - 1 January 2016
Suan Rot Fai/ Queen Sirikit Park, Bangkok
Stork-billed Kingfisher / นกกะเต็นใหญ่ธรรมดา - 15 August 2020
Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park, Bangkok
Stork-billed Kingfisher / นกกะเต็นใหญ่ธรรมดา - 15 August 2020
Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park, Bangkok
Stork-billed Kingfisher / นกกะเต็นใหญ่ธรรมดา - 15 August 2020
Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park, Bangkok
Stork-billed Kingfisher / นกกะเต็นใหญ่ธรรมดา - 15 August 2020
Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park, Bangkok
Stork-billed Kingfisher / นกกะเต็นใหญ่ธรรมดา - 15 August 2020
Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park, Bangkok
PLEASE! If I have made any mistakes identifying any bird, PLEASE let me know on my guestbook