Wildlifeof Vietnam
Blue-eared Kingfisher
Kingfishers, Bee-eaters & Rollers
Photo: Mike Gordon — wildlifeofeverywhere.com · Project photograph
Alcedo meninting
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Basic stats
Diet
Crustaceans, dragonfly larvae and fish
Habitat
Dense shaded forest, hunting in small streams; nest a metre-long tunnel in a forest stream bank
Range
India east across Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia
Clutch size
About 5–7 near-spherical white eggs
The blue-eared kingfisher is a small kingfisher of dense shaded forest, where it hunts in small streams. It is darker crowned than the common kingfisher, with darker rufous underparts, and lacks that species' rufous ear stripe. Adult males have an all-dark bill and females a reddish lower mandible, and young birds have a reddish bill with whitish tips. Several subspecies differ in measurement and colour shade (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is found across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India east through Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia. It usually perches on branches overhanging densely shaded streams before diving to catch prey, which includes crustaceans, dragonfly larvae and fish. It nests in a tunnel about a metre long in a stream bank holding five to seven white eggs.
Quick answers
- What does the Blue-eared Kingfisher eat?
- Crustaceans, dragonfly larvae and fish
- What habitat does the Blue-eared Kingfisher live in?
- Dense shaded forest, hunting in small streams; nest a metre-long tunnel in a forest stream bank
- Where is the Blue-eared Kingfisher found?
- India east across Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia
- How many eggs does the Blue-eared Kingfisher lay?
- About 5–7 near-spherical white eggs