Bird Watching - Lesser Pied Kingfisher

Lesser Pied Kingfisher

This is a white medium-sized kingfisher  with a black mask, a white supercilium and black breast bands. It has typical , stout, dragger- shaped bill. The crest is neat and the upperparts are barred in black. Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band.

Local Names : Pulli meenkothi (Malayalam)

                        Meenkotti (Tamil)

                        Koryala, Kilkila (Hindi)

Its black and white plumage and crest, as well as its habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish, make it distinctive. They are usually found in pairs or small family groups. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.

Its nest is a hole excavated in a vertical mud bank about five feet above water. The nest tunnel is 4 to 5 feet deep and ends in a chamber. The usual clutch is 5 or 6 glossy white roundish oval eggs. Both sexes share excavation, incubation and feeding the young.

The pied kingfisher is estimated to be one of the three most numerous kingfishers in the world. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate, other than short-distance seasonal movements.

References

The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)

india-birds.com

Pictures:

Sholinganallur lake, Chennai (2019)

(Sholinganallur lake is located at Sholinganallur, Chennai and it is one of the fastly vanishing birding site due to city expansion and encroachments. This lake is home to large number resident and migratory birds. Early morning and late evenings are best time to see birds.)

The pictures are taken on a rainy day and i couldn't do justice in capturing the exact beauty of this bird.