The giant kingfisher (''Megaceryle maxima'') is the largest

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the

Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, other than the arid southwest.

Taxonomy

The first

formal description A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

of the giant kingfisher was by the German naturalist

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussia, Prussian zoologist, botanist, Ethnography, ethnographer, Exploration, explorer, Geography, geographer, Geology, geologist, Natura ...

in 1769 under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Alcedo maxima''. The current genus ''Megaceryle'' was erected by the German naturalist

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...

in 1848. There are two subspecies: * ''M. m. maxima'' (Pallas, 1769) – Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa * ''M. m. gigantea'' ( Swainson, 1837) – Liberia to northern Angola and western Tanzania, island of

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

The nominate subspecies ''M. m. maxima'' occurs in wooded savanna while ''M. m. gigantea'' prefers tropical rainforest.

Description

The giant kingfisher is long, with a large shaggy crest, a large black bill and fine white spots on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring. The female has a white-spotted black breast band and a chestnut belly. The forest race ''M. m. gigantea'' is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than the

nominate race In biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. ...

, but the two forms

intergrade In zoology, intergradation is the way in which two distinct subspecies are connected via areas where populations are found that have the characteristics of both. There are two types of intergradation: primary and secondary intergradation. Primary ...

along the forest edge zone. The call is a loud ''wak wak wak''.

Behaviour

Breeding

In South Africa breeding takes place between September and January, in Zimbabwe from August to March, in Zambia March to April and in Liberia December to January. The giant kingfisher is monogamous and a solitary breeder. The nest is a long horizontal tunnel that is excavated into a river bank by both sexes using their feet and bills. The entrance hole is high and wide. The tunnel is typically in length but a tunnel of has been recorded. A clutch of around three eggs is laid in a chamber at the end of the tunnel.

Feeding

This large species feeds on crabs, fish, and frogs, caught by diving from a perch. Giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima) female composite.jpg, Female smashing a

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically mos ...

against a post to break its spine

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''ɛnaɨpɔ́sha '', meaning ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the giant kingfisher
* Giant kingfisher
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q731910

giant kingfisher The giant kingfisher (''Megaceryle maxima'') is the largest kingfisher in Africa, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, other than the arid southwest. Taxonomy The first Species description, ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Birds of East Africa