It varies from blue to green above while the underparts can be white or buff. There is a white collar around the neck, giving the birds its name. Some races have a white or buff stripe over the eye while others have a white spot between the eye and bill. There may be a black stripe through the eye. The large bill is black with a pale yellow base to the lower mandible. Females tend to be greener than the males. Immature birds are duller than the adults with dark scaly markings on the neck and breast. It has a variety of calls which vary geographically. The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.
Not Threatened.
It varies from blue to green above while the underparts can be white or buff. There is a white collar around the neck, giving the birds its name. Some races have a white or buff stripe over the eye while others have a white spot between the eye and bill. There may be a black stripe through the eye. The large bill is black with a pale yellow base to the lower mandible. Females tend to be greener than the males. Immature birds are duller than the adults with dark scaly markings on the neck and breast. It has a variety of calls which vary geographically. The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.
VOICE: The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.
22 to 29 cm
Taxonomy:
- Alcedo Chloris Boddaert, 1783, Cape of Good Hope; error = Buru. Genus often merged into Halcyon. Closely related to T. enigma and T. cinnamominus; former has been treated as conspecific, but lives alongside present species without hybridizing. Also close to T. sanctus and T. tutus, and some of the races listed below may be better placed in one of these, e.g. regina, vitiensis and eximius sometimes placed in former, whereas marinus, sacer, manuae and pealei may be better considered races of latter. Of numerous races named, some (e.g. albicilla) are distinctive (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * abyssinicus ( Pelzeln, 1856) - S Red Sea coasts from NE Sudan to NW Somalia and in W Arabia. * kalbaensis ( Cowles, 1980) - S Arabian coast of United Arab Emirates (Khawr Kalba) and NW Oman (Shnass). * vidali ( Sharpe, 1892) - W India from Ratnagiri S to Kerala. * davisoni ( Sharpe, 1892) - Andaman Is and nearby Cocos Is. * occipitalis Blyth, 1846 - Nicobar Is. * humii ( Sharpe, 1892) - coasts of West Bengal E to Myanmar (including Mergui Archipelago) and S to Peninsular Malaysia, Tioman I and NE Sumatra. * armstrongi ( Sharpe, 1892) - interior of Myanmar and Thailand, Indochina and E China (Shaweishan Is, in Jiangsu). * laubmannianus ( Grote, 1933) - Sumatra (except NE coast) to Borneo, including Bangka, Belitung and other intervening islands. * chloropterus ( Oberholser, 1919) - islands off W coast of Sumatra (Simeulue S to Sipora). * azelus ( Oberholser, 1919) - Enggano I (off SW Sumatra). * palmeri ( Oberholser, 1919) - Java, Bali, Bawean and Kangean Is. * collaris ( Scopoli, 1786) - Philippines. * chloris ( Boddaert, 1783) - Talaud and Sangihe Is S through Sulawesi, Banggai and Sula Is to Lesser Sundas (from Lombok eastwards) and E to W Papuan Is and NW New Guinea (coasts of Vogelkop and Onin Peninsulas). * sordidus ( Gould, 1842) - Aru Is, and N & NE coasts of Australia. * pilbara ( Johnstone, 1983) - NW Australia from R De Grey W to Exmouth Gulf. * teraokai ( Nagamichi Kuroda, 1915) - Palau Is. * owstoni ( Rothschild, 1904) - N Northern Marianas (Asuncion, Agrihan, Pagan, Almagan). * albicilla ( Dumont, 1823) - S Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian). * orii ( Takatsukasa & Yamashina, 1931) - S Northern Marianas (Rota). * matthiae ( Heinroth, 1902) - St Matthias Is (NC Bismarck Archipelago). * nusae ( Heinroth, 1902) - New Hanover, New Ireland (except SW) and Feni Is. * novaehiberniae ( Hartert, 1925) - SW New Ireland. * bennetti ( Ripley, 1947) - Nissan I (E of New Ireland). * stresemanni ( Laubmann, 1923) - islands between mainland New Guinea and New Britain (Witu, Umboi, Sakar, Long and Tolokiwa). * tristrami ( E. L. Layard, 1880) - New Britain. * colonus ( Hartert, 1896) - Louisiade Archipelago. * alberti ( Rothschild & Hartert, 1905) - W & C Solomons, from Buka and Bougainville E to Florida Is and Guadalcanal. * pavuvu ( Mayr, 1935) - Pavuvu, in Russell Is (C Solomons). * mala ( Mayr, 1935) - Malaita (E Solomons). * solomonis ( E. P. Ramsay, 1882) - San Cristobal and adjacent islands (E Solomons). * sororum ( I. C. J. Galbraith & E. H. Galbraith, 1962) - Malaupaina and Malaulalo (E Solomons). * amoenus ( Mayr, 1931) - Rennell and Bellona (E Solomons). * ornatus ( Mayr, 1931) - Nendo and Tinakula (NW Santa Cruz Is). * brachyurus ( Mayr, 1931) - Reef or Swallow Is (NC Santa Cruz Is). * vicina ( Mayr, 1931) - Duff Is (NE Santa Cruz Is). * utupuae ( Mayr, 1931) - Utupua I (C Santa Cruz Is). * melanodera ( Mayr, 1931) - Vanikoro I (S Santa Cruz Is). * torresianus ( Mayr, 1931) - Hiu and Loh in Torres Is (N Vanuatu). * santoensis ( Mayr, 1931) - Banks Is S to Espiritu Santo and Malo (NC Vanuatu). * juliae ( Heine, 1860) - Ambae and Maewo S to Efate (C Vanuatu). * erromangae ( Mayr, 1938) - Erromango and Aneityum (S Vanuatu). * tannensis ( Sharpe, 1892) - Tanna (S Vanuatu). * regina ( Mayr, 1941) - Futuna I, in C Polynesia. * pealei ( Finsch & Hartlaub, 1867) - Tutuila (American Samoa). * manuae ( Mayr, 1941) - Ofu, Olosega and Tau, in Manua Is (American Samoa). * vitiensis ( Peale, 1848) - Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Viti Levu, Koro, Ovalau and Ngau (Fiji). * marinus ( Mayr, 1941) - Lau Archipelago (E Fiji). * eximius ( Mayr, 1941) - Kadavu (S Fiji). * sacer ( J. F. Gmelin, 1788) - C & S Tonga.
It is most commonly found in coastal areas, particularly in mangrove swamps. It also inhabits farmland, open woodland, grassland and gardens. In some parts of its range, especially on islands, it can be seen further inland, ranging into forest or into mountain areas. Birds often perch conspicuously on wires, rocks or bare branches.
Small crabs are the favoured food in coastal regions but a wide variety of other animals are eaten including insects, worms, snails, shrimps, frogs, lizards and small fish. The bird perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it dives down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are smashed against the branch to subdue them. Any indigestible remains are regurgitated as pellets.
The nest is a hole, either a natural tree hole or a burrow excavated by the birds themselves in a rotten tree, termite mound or earth bank. They will also occupy old woodpecker holes. Two to seven rounded whitish eggs are laid directly on the floor of the burrow with no nest material used. Both parents take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The young birds leave the nest about 44 days after hatching. Two broods are often raised in a year.