It is a very large kingfisher, measuring 35 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) in
length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and grey head. Its
underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The
flight of the stork-billed kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct.
Sexes are similar. There are 15 races or subspecies, differing mostly in
plumage detail, but Pelargopsis capensis gigantea of the Sulu Islands has a
white head, neck and underparts. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a low and
far reaching peer-por-por repeated about every 5 seconds, as well cackling
ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke.
The stork-billed kingfisher lives in a variety of well-wooded habitats near
lakes, rivers, or coasts. It perches quietly whilst seeking food, and is often
inconspicuous despite its size. It is territorial and will chase away eagles
and other large predators. This species hunts fish, frogs, crabs, rodents and
young birds.
Adults dig their nests in river banks, decaying trees, or tree termite
nests. A clutch of two to five round white eggs is typical.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the stork-billed kingfisher
was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his Systema
Naturae. He coined the binomial name Alcedo capensis. Linnaeus based his
description on Mathurin Jacques Brisson's "Le martin-pescheur du Cap de
Bonne Espérance". Brisson believed his specimen had come from the Cape of
Good Hope region of South Africa. The species does not occur in Africa and it
was suggested that the specimen had been obtained on the Indonesian island of Java.
The specimen is now known to have come from near Chandannagar in West Bengal,
India. Linnaeus's specific epithet capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. The
current genus Pelargopsis was introduced by the German zoologist Constantin
Gloger in 1841.
Thirteen subspecies are recognised:
- P. c. capensis (Linnaeus, 1766) – Nepal through India to Sri Lanka
- P. c. osmastoni (Baker, ECS, 1934) – Andaman Islands
- P. c. intermedia Hume, 1874 – Nicobar Islands
- P. c. burmanica Sharpe, 1870 – Myanmar to Indochina and south to north Malay Peninsula
- P. c. malaccensis Sharpe, 1870 – central and south Malay Peninsula, Riau Archipelago and Lingga Islands
- P. c. cyanopteryx (Oberholser, 1909) – Sumatra, Bangka Island and Belitung Island
- P. c. simalurensis Richmond, 1903 – Simeulue Island (off the west coast of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia)
- P. c. sodalis Richmond, 1903 – Banyak, Nias, Batu and Mentawai Islands (off the west coast of Sumatra)
- P. c. innominata (van Oort, 1910) – Borneo
- P. c. javana (Boddaert, 1783) – Java
- P. c. floresiana Sharpe, 1870 – Bali to Flores (Lesser Sunda Islands)
- P. c. gouldi Sharpe, 1870 – north Philippines
- P. c. gigantea Walden, 1874 – central and south Philippines
The insular forms nesoeca on the Nias and Batu Islands as
well as isoptera on Mentawai Island are here subsumed within sodalis. Prior to
the change of type locality to Chandannagar, the birds in India were placed in
the subspecies gurial but this race is now synonymized with the nominate race
capensis.
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