Bird of the Week – Halfcollared kingfisher

WE are very fortunate to have good sightings of this uncommon and sparsley distributed kingfisher at our local bird sanctuary.

Also found along the coastal belt from Cape Town eastwards and over most of KZN, Gauteng to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and northern Botswana. They like fast flowing perennial streams, rivers and estuaries, usually with dense marginal vegetation. Food preferences are fish, crabs and insects. Usually solitary, they perch low down on branches or rocks over water. Flight is fast, low and direct and after landing they flick their tail while raising and lowering the head.

The call is a shrill teep or seek, seek. Breeding takes place from September till March. The nest is a burrow about 7cm in diameter and 60cm long, in a river bank. The height above the foot of the bank is between one to three metres. The chamber is lined with fish bones. Two to three glossy white eggs are laid with the incubation taking 16 days and a nestling period of about 27 days.

The Zulu name is isiXula and in Afrikaans die blouvisvanger.

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