Blyth's Kingfisher

Blyth's kingfisher, named for Edward Blyth, is the largest kingfisher in the genus Alcedo, 22–23 cm long, also called the great blue kingfisher. It has deep rufous underparts with a blackish-blue breast patch and brilliant cobalt-blue or azure upperparts tinged with purple, and dark blackish-green wings with blue speckles. The bill of the male is entirely black, while the female has a dark red lower mandible (Wikipedia, general species account).

It ranges from Nepal through India, Bangladesh and Bhutan to China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. A shy bird, it frequents small waterways, catching fish and insects by diving from a shrub close to the water. It breeds from March to June, at the end of a tunnel dug in the bank of a stream or ravine, with four to six eggs incubated by both sexes. Even within its preferred habitat its density is low, and the population is believed to be small and declining.