The White-throated Kingfisher is a large species of tree kingfisher that lives across southern parts of Asia and far eastern Europe. They feed on large insects, frogs, toads, and, of course, fish.
White-throated Kingfishers have a distinctive plumage consisting of bright blue feathers along the back and tail, dark chestnut on the flanks and head, and white at the throat and belly. Males and females have similar coloration, though females tend to be a bit duller. White-throated Kingfishers are also known as White-breasted Kingfishers or Smyrna Kingfishers.
The population trend for the White-throated Kingfisher is increasing, and the conservation status is Least Concern as of September 2014.
The White-throated Kingfisher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2015 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
We have recently updated some of our Kingfishers and added several new ones bringing the total number of Kingfishers on Birdorable to ten! There are actually 90 different species of Kingfisher in the world, so we still have a way to go. Each of our birds... Read more »
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 highlight the beautiful... Read more »
