Animal field guide
White-throated Kingfisher
Halcyon smyrnensis
A large tree kingfisher, about 27 cm long, with a chocolate-brown head, turquoise back and heavy red bill. To nest, a pair flies repeatedly at an earth bank, striking it bill-first until there is a foothold, then digs a tunnel half a metre or more long that ends in a rounded chamber.
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Animal · North Africa & Middle East · Open country with scattered trees · Relatively common
Known for: Chocolate-brown head, White bib on throat and breast, Bright turquoise-blue back, Heavy
Animal field guide
White-throated Kingfisher
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A large tree kingfisher, about 27 cm long, with a chocolate-brown head, turquoise back and heavy red bill. To nest, a pair flies repeatedly at an earth bank, striking it bill-first until there is a foothold, then digs a tunnel half a metre or more long that ends in a rounded chamber.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Open country with scattered trees from the Middle East through South Asia to Southeast Asia: farmland, rice fields, plantations, gardens, parks, roadside ditches, canals, ponds, mangrove edges and dry scrub. It is commonest in the lowlands but reaches the Himalayan foothills.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
35
Speed
50
Size
20
Intelligence
36
Rarity
12%
Total
153
Size scale
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Understand the animal
Understand the White-throated Kingfisher
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to White-throated Kingfisher
A large tree kingfisher, about 27 cm long, with a chocolate-brown head, turquoise back and heavy red bill. To nest, a pair flies repeatedly at an earth bank, striking it bill-first until there is a foothold, then digs a tunnel half a metre or more long that ends in a rounded chamber.
How to identify a White-throated Kingfisher
- Chocolate-brown head, shoulders and belly
- White bib on throat and breast
- Bright turquoise-blue back, wings and tail
- Heavy, dagger-shaped red bill
- White wing patches visible in flight
Why White-throated Kingfisher are interesting
- Despite being a kingfisher, it hunts mostly over dry land and is often found far from water.
- Its call is a loud, laughing, descending whinny, often given in flight or from an exposed perch.
- It is the state bird of West Bengal in India.
- It is also known as the White-breasted Kingfisher, a name still widely used in India.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does White-throated Kingfisher behave this way?
- Chocolate-brown head, shoulders and belly
- White bib on throat and breast
- Bright turquoise-blue back, wings and tail
- Heavy, dagger-shaped red bill
- White wing patches visible in flight
Hunting is heaviest in the morning and again in the late afternoon, often with a quieter spell in the midday heat. The night is spent perched in a tree.
04
Why Open country with scattered trees from the Middle East through South Asia to Southeast Asia?
Habitat: Open country with scattered trees from the Middle East through South Asia to Southeast Asia: farmland, rice fields, plantations, gardens, parks, roadside ditches, canals, ponds, mangrove edges and dry scrub. It is commonest in the lowlands but reaches the Himalayan foothills.
Native range: North Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Open country with scattered trees from the Middle East through South Asia to Southeast Asia: farmland, rice fields, plantations, gardens, parks, roadside ditches, canals, ponds, mangrove edges and dry scrub. It is commonest in the lowlands but reaches the Himalayan foothills.
05
Why this diet?
Grasshoppers, beetles, earthworms, small snakes and rodents make up much of the diet alongside aquatic prey. Each catch is carried back to the perch, beaten against the branch until limp and swallowed whole.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Hunting is heaviest in the morning and again in the late afternoon, often with a quieter spell in the midday heat. The night is spent perched in a tree.
Wild lifespan has not been well documented, and there are too few ringing records to give a typical or maximum age.
07
White-throated Kingfisher reproduction
Breeding begins around the start of the rains. The clutch is four to seven round white eggs, laid on bare earth in the nest chamber and incubated for about 20 to 22 days. Both parents feed the chicks, which fledge roughly three to four weeks after hatching.
Males and females look alike, sharing the chocolate-brown head, white throat and bright blue back. Females may be very slightly duller, but the sexes cannot be separated reliably in the field.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 12/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 12/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
Speak to the animal
Speak to the White-throated Kingfisher
It answers as itself: ask about how it lives, or bring it something of yours and hear what it would do, from its own Power.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 100/day.
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Compare the White-throated Kingfisher
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Battled in the Arena
No one has taken a White-throated Kingfisher into an Arena battle yet. Battles players fight with this animal in the AnimalDex app show up here.
Where to find them
Where to find White-throated Kingfisher
To find White-throated Kingfisher in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside north Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia than by covering too much ground.
- Quiet marsh edges, reedbeds, river bends, or shallow wetland margins
- Open grassland edges, lightly wooded plains, or raised ground where you can scan long distances
- Water sources, dune bases, rocky wadis, or shaded scrub at first and last light
Where explorers saw it
- The sparkle jeep safari, Cejlon, Zentralprovinz (Sri Lanka)Aug · 1 sighting
Guides to seeing White-throated Kingfisher
Scientific name
Halcyon smyrnensis
Category
Animal
Habitat
Open country with scattered trees from the Middle East through South Asia to Southeast Asia: farmland, rice fields, plantations, gardens, parks, roadside ditches, canals, ponds, mangrove edges and dry scrub. It is commonest in the lowlands but reaches the Himalayan foothills.
Rarity
Relatively common · 12/100
Native range
North Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia
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