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Colorful kingfisher with very long white tail streamers, rusty-red underparts, and bright red bill.
Not listed
At a glance
FamilyKingfishers
SizeMedium
RarityUncommon
HabitatOpen woodland, creek corridors, forest edge, and scattered tall perches near clearings or water.
Best timeMost reliable in Queensland from November to January.
Sounds
Sound sampleRecorded by Peter Boesman
Range map
Range map
174visible hotspots
9702visible records
2states
SparseModerateDense hotspot
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Head and wings blue, with black ‘eye-mask’ and white stripe running down the back. Juvenile has shorter tail streamers and a black bill. Queensland birds migrate to New Guinea during the middle of the year.
Behavior
In the summer, breeds in the wet tropics of far north Queensland and southeast New Guinea, where it nests in burrows in termite mounds.
Gallery