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Australian Wildlife

  Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla)





Little Kingfisher | Alcedo pusilla photo
Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla), Daintree Village, Queensland, Australia

Image by JJ Harrison (http://www.noodlesnacks.com/) - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Little Kingfisher | Alcedo pusilla photo
Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla), Daintree Village, Queensland, Australia

Image by JJ Harrison (http://www.noodlesnacks.com/) - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







LITTLE KINGFISHER FACTS

Description
The Little Kingfisher is the smallest Australian kingfisher. It is deep glossy blue above extending down side of breast. Chest is pure white and there is a white spot before the eye and also on the neck.

Size
12cm

Habitat
creeks and lagoons in tropical rainforest, coastal creeks with dense cover, and mangrove swamps

Food
crustaceans, reptiles, insects and their larvae

Breeding
nests in burrow in creek bank. Lays 4-5 glossy white eggs.

Range
far north coastal areas of Northern Territory and Cape York peninsula in Queensland

distribution map showing range of Alcedo pusilla in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Notes
How to identify common kingfishers. Little Kingfisher - very small blue kingfisher with small white patch on neck. Azure Kingfisher - orange underparts and violet sheen. Forest kingfisher - turquoise green head and back with white underparts and black legs. Sacred kingfisher - torquoise back with dark head, cream collar and dark eye stripe.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Coraciiformes
Family:Alcedinidae
Genus:Alcedo
Species:pusilla
Common Name:Little Kingfisher

Relatives in same Genus
  Azure Kingfisher (A. azurea)