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Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก

The Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Originally described by Linnaeus in 1758, it has five recognised subspecies. Its black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish make it distinctive.

Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.

Distribution
It is common throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia from Turkey to India to China. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate, other than short-distance seasonal movements. In India it is distributed mainly on the plains and is replaced in the higher hills of the Himalayas by the crested kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris).

The Pied Kingfisher is estimated to be one of the three most numerous kingfishers in the world; the other two are the common kingfisher and collared kingfisher. It a noisy bird, hard to miss.

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
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

Taxonomy and evolution
The Pied Kingfisher was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, who noted that it lived in Persia and Egypt. He named it Alcedo rudis. The German naturalist Friedrich Boie erected the genus Ceryle in 1828.

The name is from classical Greek kērulos, an unidentified and probably mythical bird mentioned by Aristotle and other authors. The specific epithet rudis is Latin for "wild" or "rude".

The Pied Kingfisher is the only member of the genus Ceryle. Molecular analysis shows it is an early offshoot of the lineage that gave rise to American kingfishers of the genus Chloroceryle.

The Pied Kingfisher was initially believed to be descended from an ancestral American green kingfisher which crossed the Atlantic Ocean about one million years ago.

A more recent suggestion is that the Pied Kingfisher and the American green kingfishers are derived from an Old World species, with the Pied Kingfisher or its ancestor losing the metallic colouration afterwards.

There are five subspecies:

• C. r. syriacus Roselaar, 1995 – Turkey to Israel east to southwest Iran (some ornithologists do not recognise this subspecies)

• C. r. rudis (Linnaeus, 1758) – Egypt and Africa south of the Sahara

• C. r. leucomelanurus Reichenbach, 1851 – east Afghanistan through India to south China and north Indochina

• C. r. travancoreensis Whistler, 1935 – southwest India

• C. r. insignis Hartert, 1910 – east and southeast China, Hainan Island


Description
This is a medium-sized kingfisher, about 25 cm long with a white with a black mask, a white supercilium and black breast bands. The crest is neat and the upperparts are barred in black. Several subspecies are recognized within the broad distribution.

The nominate race is found in sub-Saharan Africa, extending into West Asia. The subspecies syriacus is a larger northern bird similar to the nominate species (following Bergmann's rule).

Subspecies leucomelanura is found from Afghanistan east into India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos. The subspecies travancoreensis of the Western Ghats is darker with the white reduced.

The subspecies C. r. insignis is found in Hainan and southeastern China and has a much larger bill. Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band.

Listen to the Pied Kingfisher

Remarks from the Recordist

Bird in flight




Remarks from the Recordist

Near nesting site

www.xeno-canto.org

Behaviour
When perched the Pied Kingfisher often bobs its heads up and down and will sometimes raise its tail and flick it downwards. It calls often with sharp chirruk chirruk notes. Unlike some kingfishers, it is quite gregarious, and forms large roosts at night.

Feeding
This kingfisher feeds mainly on fish, although it will take crustaceans and large aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae. It usually hunts by hovering over the water to detect prey and diving vertically bill-first to capture fish. When not foraging, it has a straight rapid flight and have been observed flying at nearly 50 km/h.

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Composite showing C. rudis rudis dive, Gambia

In Lake Victoria in East Africa the introduction of the Nile perch reduced the availability of haplochromine cichlids which were formerly the preferred prey of these birds.

It can deal with prey without returning to a perch, often swallowing small prey in flight, and so can hunt over large water bodies or in estuaries that lack perches that are required by other kingfishers.

Breeding
The breeding season is February to April. Its nest is a hole excavated in a vertical mud bank about five feet above water. The nest tunnel is four to five feet deep and ends in a chamber. Several birds may nest in the same vicinity. The usual clutch is three to six white eggs.

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
By Klaus Rassinger und Gerhard Cammerer, Museum Wiesbaden - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The Pied Kingfisher sometimes reproduces cooperatively, with young non-breeding birds from an earlier brood assisting parents or even unrelated older birds. In India, nestlings have been found to be prone to maggot infestations (probably by Protocalliphora sp.) and in some areas to leeches. Nest holes may sometimes be used for roosting.

In 1947, British zoologist Hugh B. Cott noticed while skinning birds that hornets were attracted to certain birds but avoided the flesh of Pied Kingfisher. This led to a comparative study of edibility of birds and he suggested that more conspicuously plumaged birds may be less palatable. This suggestion was, however, not supported by a subsequent reanalysis of his data.

Conservation status
Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 22 September 2015



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.birdforum.net


Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 7th of January 2016
Location: Sasan Gir, at the river outside my hotel Lion Safari Camp, India


Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Pied Kingfisher - 11th of January 2016
At the river outside my hotel, Corbett Riverside Resort, India

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Pied Kingfisher - 11th of January 2016
At the river outside my hotel, Corbett Riverside Resort, India

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Male Pied Kingfisher - 12th of January 2016
At the river outside my hotel, Corbett Riverside Resort, India
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Pied Kingfisher - 12th of January 2016
At the river outside my hotel, Corbett Riverside Resort, India

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Female Pied Kingfisher - 2 December 2016 - Sundarbans, India
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis, นกกะเต็นปักหลัก
Pied Kingfisher - 2 December 2016 - Sundarbans, India

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Female Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Female Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Male Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Male Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Female Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Male Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Female Pied Kingfisher
19 May 2017 - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka
Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band



PLEASE! If I have made any mistakes identifying any bird, PLEASE let me know on my guestbook



       
                  



                                       

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