A photo of a Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala)
Grey-headed Kingfisher

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Halcyon leucocephala

The grey-headed kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) is a species of kingfisher that has a wide distribution from the Cape Verde Islands off the north-west coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia and southern Arabia and south to South Africa. The sexes are similar. The adult of the nominate race H. l. leucocephala has a pale grey head, black mantle and back, bright blue rump, wings and tail, and chestnut underparts. Subspecies H. l. pallidiventris has a darker grey head and paler chestnut underparts but is otherwise similar. The beak is long, red and sharp. This bird grows to an average length of 21 cm. The song is a succession of notes, ascending, descending and then ascending again, becoming increasingly strident. The warning call is a series of sharp notes, "tchk, tchk, tchk, tchk".
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Grey-headed Kingfishers on Birda

Photos

Sightings

A map showing the sighting location
🥀
Gert Brits
Saturday 11 Mar 2023 - 11:59am
South Africa
A photo of a Grey-headed Kingfisher photographed in  Kenya
🦢
Tom Kennedy
Friday 10 Mar 2023 - 6:02am
Kenya
A map showing the sighting location
🦢
Trevor Kleyn
Monday 13 Feb 2023 - 5:33am
Botswana
A map showing the sighting location
🍄
Alistair Dyason
Thursday 22 Dec 2022 - 3:58pm
South Africa
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