Yellow-billed Kingfisher

Overview

The yellow-billed kingfisher (Syma torotoro) is a medium-sized tree kingfisher with a wide distribution. The species is currently assessed as being of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Length of 20 cm with a wingspan of 29 cm and a weight of 30–50 g.
• Orange head and neck featuring a black nape patch and white throat; adult females possess an additional black crown patch.
• Upper mantle is blackish grading to olive green on the back, with a blue-green rump and blue tail; underparts are pale orange-grey.
• Bill is orange-yellow in adults and dark grey in juveniles.
• Loud, repeated whistling trills resembling a postman's whistle, mainly heard during the breeding season.

Habitat

Widespread throughout lowland New Guinea and adjacent islands, extending to northern Cape York Peninsula in Australia. It is found in rainforest, monsoon forest and along forest edges.

Diet

Preys on large insects, earthworms, and small snakes and lizards. It forages by perching in the low canopy and swaying from side to side before swooping down to the ground to take its prey.

Did you know?

The nest is usually an excavated chamber within an arboreal termite nest, where the female lays a clutch of 3 or 4 glossy white eggs.