The yellow-billed kingfisher (''Syma torotoro'') is a medium-sized

tree kingfisher The tree kingfishers, also called wood kingfishers or Halcyoninae, are the most numerous of the three family (biology), subfamilies of birds in the kingfisher family, with around 70 species divided into 12 genus, genera, including several specie ...

Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognised: *''Syma torotoro torotoro'' (

Lesson A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...

, 1827) found in West Papuan islands, lowland

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Yapen Island Yapen (also Japen, Jobi) is an island of Papua (province), Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is ...

and Aru *''S. t. flavirostris'' (

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, an ...

, 1850) found in

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

in northeastern Australia *''S. t. ochracea'' (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

and

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German people, German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married ...

, 1901) found in the

D'Entrecasteaux Islands D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

of eastern

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Description

The yellow-billed kingfisher is long, with a wingspan of , and it weighs . Its orange colouring and yellow bill are distinctive; it has an orange head and neck with a black nape patch and white throat. Adult females also have a black crown patch. The upper mantle is blackish grading to olive green on the back, blue-green on rump and with a blue tail. The upperwing is dull green-blue with dark olive-black flight feathers. The underparts are pale orange-grey. The bill is orange-yellow in adults, dark grey in juveniles.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-billed kingfisher is widespread throughout lowland

and the adjacent islands, extending to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It may be found in

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, monsoon forest and along forest edges.

Behaviour

Feeding

The yellow-billed kingfisher is known to prey on large insects, earthworms, and small snakes and lizards. It perches in the low canopy, swaying from side to side, before swooping down to the ground to take its prey.

Breeding

The nest of the yellow-billed kingfisher is usually an excavated chamber in an arboreal

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

nest.Woodall, P. F. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). "Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Syma torotoro), version 1.0." In ''Birds of the World'' (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yebkin1.01 The female lays a clutch of 3 or 4 glossy white, rounded eggs, measuring .Morcombe, Michael (2012) ''Field Guide to Australian Birds.'' Pascal Press, Glebe, NSW. Revised edition.

Voice

Calls include loud, repeated whistling trills like a postman's whistle, mainly during the breeding season.

Conservation status

With a large range and no evidence of significant decline, the conservation status of this species is assessed as being of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

* BirdLife International. (2006). Species factsheet: ''Syma torotoro''. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 14 March 2007. * Coates, Brian J. (1985). ''The Birds of Papua New Guinea. Volume 1: Non-Passerines''. Dove Publications: Alderley, Queensland. * Higgins, P.J. (ed). (1999). ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 4: Parrots to Dollarbird''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.

External links

Photos, audio and video of yellow-billed kingfisher
from

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

's Macaulay Library
Recordings of yellow-billed kingfisher
from Xeno-canto sound archive {{Authority control

yellow-billed kingfisher The yellow-billed kingfisher (''Syma torotoro'') is a medium-sized tree kingfisher. Taxonomy Three subspecies are recognised: *''Syma torotoro torotoro'' ( Lesson, 1827) found in West Papuan islands, lowland New Guinea, Yapen Island and Aru *' ...

Birds of Cape York Peninsula

Taxa named by René Lesson