Species profile: Sacred Kingfisher

This week, we’re celebrating the world’s kingfishers! There are about 90 species of kingfisher in the world. These darling birds are often colorful, and they can be found all around the world. Join us as we highlight kingfishers on the Birdorable blog this week! Today we're profiling the Sacred Kingfisher.

Added today, the Sacred Kingfisher is our newest Birdorable bird! The Sacred Kingfisher is a species of tree or wood kingfisher. This family, Halcyonidae, has the most species of all three types of kingfisher. The other two types are river kingfishers and water kingfishers.

Sacred Kingfisher by Grahame Bowland (CC BY 2.0)

These birds are relatively common throughout most of their range, and are considered one of the most well-known birds of New Zealand. The Sacred Kingfisher's call, "kee-kee-kee", is distinctive. Sacred Kingfishers are found in Australia, New Zealand (where they are known as kotare), and other nearby islands in the Pacific Ocean. They feed on a varity of prey items, usually foraged on land as opposed to in the water. Sacred Kingfishers eat insects, crustaceans, and small reptiles.

Sacred Kingfisher by Jim Bendon (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Sacred Kingfisher gets its name from a traditional Polynesian belief that the birds have the ability to control the ocean's waves. The scientific name for Sacred Kingfisher is Todiramphus sanctus, which means "sacred tody-bill".