Gray-headed Kingfisher Halcyon leucocephala Scientific name definitions

22 cm; 35–61 g, males average 42 g, females 43 g. Small to medium-sized kingfisher with reddish belly. Male nominate race grey head , black lores, black back and wing-coverts, bright blue wings, rump and tail; greyish-white breast, rufous-chestnut belly and vent; in flight underwing black, with primary bases white, coverts rufous-chestnut; bill red; iris dark brown; legs and feet red. Female slightly duller, rufous paler. Juvenile scaly head and breast, buffy belly. Race <em>acteon</em> has head paler, blues darker, chestnut paler; semicaerulea shows slightly purer blues; hyacinthina wings and tail tinged violet; <em>pallidiventris</em> has belly and vent paler.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Woodland , thickets, thornbush, riparian trees along watercourses, bushy grassland, parkland and cultivated areas, from sea-level to 2400 m. Migrants use wider range of open habitats, including gardens and desert palms, but avoid thick forest or very arid regions.

Timing and extent of movements vary regionally. Cape Verde population and perhaps some in equatorial Africa are resident; E African coastal race (hyacinthina) also resident, though some birds occasionally wander to Zanzibar and Pemba. Populations at higher latitudes exhibit more definite movements. Arabian breeders present Apr to mid-Dec, probably winter in Somalia. In Nigeria, S populations present near coast Nov–Apr, breed in dry season (Jan–Feb) and migrate N for wet season; N populations in desert-edge Sahel zone nest in wet season (Jul–Aug) and migrate S for dry; not known whether same individuals breed twice a year. Populations at middle latitudes have complex 3-stage migration: breed Mar–Jun, move to far N to moult in wet season (Jul–Aug), then migrate to far S for dry season, and finally return N to breeding grounds. In Nigeria, the peak of juvenile migration is 1–2 weeks later than that of adults. Ethiopian birds migrate S to E Africa, 2 individuals travelled 960 km to Uganda and 1750 km to Kenya, respectively. Some of these N populations migrate to S Africa. S population of pallidiventris breeds in austral summer, then moves N in Apr–May to as far as C Zaire, Uganda and C Kenya, returning Aug–Sept, but some remain in dry season in the Zambezi Valley, Zambia and Malawi; one ringed in Malawi was recovered 1430 km away, in Zaire. Some S populations show 3-stage migration like those in N, breeding in N Zambia, moving S to arid Botswana and Namibia at peak of wet season, then moving N to equatorial non-breeding grounds; in years with above-average rainfall, more of these kingfishers migrate to S Africa and species is present farther S in arid areas.

Mainly insects, particularly grasshoppers and locusts (Orthoptera), and also crickets (Grylloidea), mole-crickets (Gryllotalpidae), cockroaches (Blattodea), mantises (Mantodea), bugs (Hemiptera), ants (Formicidae), beetles (Coleoptera), and moths and caterpillars (including Sphingidae); also spiders, scorpions (Scorpiones) to 50 mm in length, slow-worms (Anguidae), small lizards; occasionally mice, frogs, fish, and nestling birds (Merops). Sits on a perch , scanning different areas in turn, and jerking its head up and down a few times, before flying down to catch prey. Most prey taken from ground, but some insects captured in flight; fish may be taken in low flight over the water. Small prey swallowed whole; larger ones are hit against perch, removing many of the legs, before being swallowed.

Loud chattering trill, “trrrit-it-it-it-it”; loud “weep weep trrrr woop”, whistled “cheeo cheeo weecho-trrrr”, chattering “dji-dji-dji-dji” or “chirr-r-r-r-r” falling in pitch, and twittering “tirr”, loud “tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi...”, clear “tew-uuuuuu”, and descending “piuu piuu piuu”.

Season late Jul–Dec and Feb–May in Cape Verde Is, from Feb–Mar in Ivory Coast, May–Oct in Senegal, Gambia and Mali, and Jan–Jun (dependent on latitude) in Nigeria; May–Jun in Sudan, Oct–Jun in Ethiopia; all months but mainly in wet season (Oct–Dec) in E Africa; lays Aug–Sept in Angola, Sept–Feb (mainly Oct–Nov) in Zambia, Oct–Nov and Feb in Malawi, Sept–Dec (mainly Oct–Nov) in Zimbabwe, and Oct–Nov in Natal. Monogamous; generally solitary breeder, and territorial, but 18 nests together at a sand quarry in Zambia. Paired birds sing from treetop, pivoting, and flicking wings open to show pattern, also circle together high above ground, calling continuously, then dive back to tree. Nest excavated in riverbank, road cutting, irrigation ditch, erosion gulley, ground termitarium, or roof of aardvark (Orycteropus afer) burrow, a horizontal tunnel 5 cm wide and 40–100 cm long, ending in nest-chamber 15 cm wide and 10 cm high; occasionally old tree hole used, including old nest of woodpecker (Picidae), rarely hole in stone wall. Clutch 2–6 eggs, mean 4; incubation period not documented; both sexes feed young, fledging period c. 21 days. Nests parasitized by Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator).

Not globally threatened. Has wide distribution and uses a wide variety of open habitats. Generally common to fairly common throughout its range; a pair every 0·5–1 km along rivers in Nigeria; can be plentiful on migration. Some are killed while migrating by flying into buildings at night. In some areas, nests are not infrequently robbed by children.