Alcedo pusilla
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. White underparts, bill black, leg and dfeet pinkish-tinked dark grey. Juvenile greenish wash to blue colours, buffy loral spots and neck patch. Sexes alike.
Not Threatened.
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. White underparts, bill black, leg and dfeet pinkish-tinked dark grey. Juvenile greenish wash to blue colours, buffy loral spots and neck patch. Sexes alike.
11 cm, male 10-15 g, female 10-14 g
Taxonomy:
- Ceyx pusilla Temminck, 1836, Lobo, Triton Bay, New Guinea. Sometimes placed in genus Ceyx or in Alcyone. Possibly closely related to A. coerulescens. Nine subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * halmaherae (Salomonsen, 1934) - Halmahera, Bacan and Obi (N Moluccas). * pusilla (Temminck, 1836) - W Papuan Is, Kai Is and Aru Is through S New Guinea to D’Entrecasteaux Is (Goodenough, Fergusson), and S to islands in Torres Strait, and NE Cape York Peninsula. *laetior (Rand, 1941) - N New Guinea, from Geelvink Bay E to Astrolabe Bay. * masauji (Mathews, 1927) - Bismarck Archipelago, on New Hanover, New Ireland, Tabar Is, Umboi and New Britain. * bougainvillei (Ogilvie-Grant, 1914) - Solomon Is, from Buka and Bougainville E to Choiseul, Santa Isabel and Florida Is. * richardsi (Tristram, 1882) - New Georgia Group (WC Solomons). * aolae (Ogilvie-Grant, 1914) - Guadalcanal (E Solomons). * ramsayi (North, 1912) - N Australia, from Melville I and R Victoria E to W Cape York Peninsula. * halli (Mathews, 1912) - NE Queensland, from R Endeavour S to Keppel Bay.
Creeks and lagoons in tropical rainforest, coastal creeks with dense cover, and mangrove swamps. Sea-level to 750 m.
Crustaceans, reptiles, insects and their larvae. Tiny fish. Perch less than 2 m above water, occasionally bobbing head.Makes shalow dives.
Nests in burrow in creek bank - 15 cm long. Lays 4-5 glossy white eggs. Lays in Jan-Apr in PNG. Presumably sedentary. Widespread and locally common.