Sacred Kingfisher

1. Buff loral spot extending as a thin eyebrow over the eye

2. Blue-green upperparts with a bright blue rump and tail

3. Underparts variable from white to buff or orange, with a pale collar

Sacred Kingfishers are mainly solitary outside the breeding season and are highly territorial. They hunt from low, exposed perches, swooping down to catch insects, crustaceans, small reptiles, frogs, and occasionally fish or small mammals. Prey is typically subdued by bashing it against a branch before swallowing. Breeding occurs from September to January (sometimes as late as March), with pairs excavating nests in tree hollows, arboreal termite mounds, or earthen banks, sometimes up to 20 metres above ground. Both parents share incubation (16–21 days) and feeding of the young, which fledge after 24–29 days.

Sacred Kingfishers are found throughout mainland Australia (less common in Tasmania), as well as New Zealand, New Guinea, Indonesia, and many Pacific islands. In Australia, they inhabit open eucalypt and melaleuca forests, woodlands, mangroves, paperbark forests, river valleys, wetlands, farmland, parks, gardens, and coastal dunes. They are rarely far from water, though they avoid the driest deserts. In southern Australia, they are mostly present in spring and summer, migrating north to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea for the winter.