Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata)

Identification & Behavior: ~31 cm (12.2 in). The Ringed Kingfisher is the largest kingfisher occurring in Peru. Males and females have blue-gray upperparts and rufous underparts with a broad white neck collar. Females have a broad blue-gray band across the breast bordered by a narrow white band below it.  The rufous underparts in females extend to the base of the tail.   Males and females show pale wing panels in flight.  It perches on exposed branches and logs often high above the water. It favors large and small river and seems more of a micro-habitat generalist than other kingfishers. See the similar Amazon Kingfisher.

Status: The Ringed Kingfisher is generally uncommon in large rivers, lakes, and open bodies of water in Amazonia and also in extreme northwest Peru. Common near breeding colonies on dirt cliffs along large rivers. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, Bo, Ch.

Name in Spanish: Martín Pescador Grande.

Sub-species: Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata) (Linnaeus, 1766).

Meaning of Name: Megaceryle: Gr. Megas= large, ceryle: Kerulos= a mythological bird mentioned by Aristotle. torquata: L. torquatus= collar.  Large birds that resemble a mythological bird figure, with a collar.

See more of the Family Alcedinidae