Description:

Small kingfisher with turquoise upperparts and orange underparts. Rufous loral spot, black eyestripe, rufous ear-coverts, white neckstripe; crown and malar stripe barred blue and black; upperparts and tail brilliant azure-blue, wings dark greenish-blue with paler blue spots; white chin and throat, rufous underparts.

Distribution:

Uncommon summer visitor to lower southern areas of Ghizer, Gilgit, Diamer and Skardu. Inhabits still or gently flowing streams or small rivers with plentiful small fish with reeds or shrubs on the banks for perches. From lowlands to 2500m.

Behavior:

Perches for long periods, usually above the water, periodically turning around and bobbing head and body to gauge distance when food sighted; dives steeply and catches prey below water and flies back to its perch. Fish is the main prey up to 125 mm long. Also takes aquatic insects.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Common Kingfisher in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Common Kingfisher

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.