Species profile: Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher

Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher

This week, we’ve been 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. Today we wrap up Kingfisher Week with a species profile of the impossibly cute Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher.

The Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher is known by several different names, including Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, simply Black-backed Kingfisher, Miniature Kingfisher, Malay Forest Kingfisher, and Three-toed Kingfisher. This darling bird is one of the most colorful species of kingfisher; it is also one of the smallest species of kingfisher, measuring just about 5 inches in length.

Black Backed Kingfisher
Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher by Jason Thompson (CC BY 2.0)

Black-backed Dwarf Kingfishers belong to the river kingfisher, or Alcedinidae, family. Their prey items include insects, frogs, and lizards. They rarely dine on fish. These diminutive kingfishers were considered to be bad omens by the Dusun tribe of Borneo. Like most kingfishers, Black-backed Dwarf Kingfishers nest in tunnels or burrows. A nest tunnel may be up to a meter long! A typical clutch size is 3 to 6 eggs and incubation, performed by both parents, lasts about 17 days. Both parents care for the growing chicks. Fledging occurs about 20 days after hatching.

Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher Gifts

Comments

Be the first to comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published
You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. By clicking submit below, you consent to allow Birdorable to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested.

2013 Bonanza Bird #21: Australian Magpie

We're adding a new bird each day until we reach our 500th Birdorable species! Today's Bonanza bird is the Australian Magpie. Australian Magpies are not closely related to the magpies found in Europe or the Americas. When European naturalists came to settle...

Razorbills out of range

Florida birders have been treated to a rare sight this winter. Hundreds of Razorbills have been seen off both coasts of the state; the birds have been seen as far west as Pensacola along the Gulf of Mexico! The normal winter range for the Razorbill, which is a...

Bird Term: Allopreening

Allopreening refers to one animal preening another. While preening and grooming are usually individual actions, in some species, birds or animals will preen one another. This occurs in birds as well as other classes of animal. We previously mentioned allopreening when discussing

Bird Term: Sexual Dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism refers to observable differences between males and females of the same species. In basic terms, it means that a male of a species is easily distinguished from a female. In birds this usually means differences in size or in...