Adult - the sound of the summer bushveld. All images copyright Simply Birding.
Juvenile - juveniles look different to their parents with ther barred underparts. All images copyright Simply Birding.
Woodland Kingfisher
Halcyon senegalensis- Habitat: Woodland and savanna with tall trees.
- Diet: A wide range of prey from spiders to lizzards, frogs and small snakes. Seldom dives for fish.
- Status: Common summer intra-african migrant.
- Calls: Song A diagnostic piercing chip-trrrrrrrrrrr Alarm call a faster rolling version of the trrrrrr sound
- Similar looking: Mangrove Kingfisher but head colour helps separate. Ranges do not overlap except in extreme northern KZN.
- Similar sounding: Mangrove Kingfisher but that stutters more and takes longer to get going.
Fun facts
Despite being known as a family for catching fish, Woodland Kingfisher almost never catches fish and over half of the Southern African Kingfishers don't catch fish either.
ID pitfalls
The bill colouration is misleading with quite a few Woodland Kingfishers not having black on the lower bill. Use head colour, call and distribution.
Where to find one
Common throughout its range where it favours almost all tall woodland.