Species guide
Brown-hooded Kingfisher: how to recognise it
A bird of Africa. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Ian White · CC BY-NC-SA · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Halcyon albiventris
- Family
- Kingfishers
- Size
- About 19–23 cm
- Habitat
- Open woodland, gardens and coastal forest
- Found in
- Africa
The key marks
A brown-streaked head, a blue back, wings and tail, a red bill and white underparts.
Voice
A shrill, trilling call.
Good to know
It drops from a perch onto insects, lizards and small frogs, not only fish.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in open woodland, gardens and coastal forest. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.