Bird guideBuff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher

The most commonly heard call has been described as an ascending ch-kow, ch-kow, chop chop, chuga, chuga or tcherwill tcherwill repeated 4-5 times.

⚠️Not listed

At a glance

FamilyKingfishers
SizeMedium
RarityUncommon
HabitatDistribution and habitat During the breeding season from November to March, the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher is found in coastal north-east Queensland from islands in the Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula south to Byfield, in central Queensland.
Best timeMost reliable in Queensland from November to January.

Sounds

Sound sample
0:000:00
Recorded by Peter Boesman

Range map

Range map

174visible hotspots
9711visible records
2states
Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

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.

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