Common paradise kingfisher facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Common paradise kingfisher |
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Tanysiptera
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galatea
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The common paradise kingfisher (Tanysiptera galatea) is a super cool bird known for its bright colors and unique tail. People also call it the Galatea paradise kingfisher or the racquet-tailed kingfisher. It belongs to the Alcedinidae family, which includes all kingfishers.
You can find this bird living in warm, wet tropical moist lowland forests. Its home is mainly in the Maluku Islands and New Guinea. Just like other paradise kingfishers, it has a bright red beak and feathers that are full of color. This bird is quite common, and experts at the IUCN say it's a "least concern" species, meaning it's not in danger right now.
Understanding the Common Paradise Kingfisher
What's in a Name? The Bird's Taxonomy
The common paradise kingfisher was first officially described in 1859. An English zoologist named George Robert Gray gave it its scientific name. He studied birds collected by Alfred Russel Wallace from a place called "Dorey" (which is now Manokwari in New Guinea).
Gray gave the bird its current scientific name, Tanysiptera galatea. The first part, Tanysiptera, comes from an old Greek word meaning 'long-feathered'. This makes sense because of its long tail! The second part, galatea, comes from Greek mythology. Galatea was a beautiful sea nymph.
There are many different types, or subspecies, of the common paradise kingfisher. They live in different places. Some are found on the main island of New Guinea, while others live on the many small Maluku Islands nearby.
What Does This Kingfisher Look Like?
This kingfisher is easy to spot with its bright features. It has a shiny red beak. Its head has a dark turquoise cap with bright blue edges. The feathers on its cheeks are blackish.
The upper part of its body is bluish-black. Its belly and chest are pure white. The feathers under its wings are a mix of blue and white. The most amazing part is its tail! The two central tail feathers are super long and narrow, ending in a special "racquet" shape. The base of these long tail feathers is blue.
It looks a lot like another bird called the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher. The main difference is the color of their chests. In some parts of New Guinea, you might even see both birds living in the same area!
A Glimpse into History: Wallace's Discoveries
The famous explorer and naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace wrote about this bird in his book, The Malay Archipelago, in 1869. He was amazed by its beauty and unique features.
Wallace described the bird he found on Amboyna (now Ambon). He called it Tanysiptera nais, which is one of the subspecies of the common paradise kingfisher. He noted how different these birds were from other kingfishers because of their incredibly long, narrow tail feathers that ended in a spoon shape.
He explained that these birds are "king-hunters." This means they mostly eat insects and small snails. They quickly swoop down to the ground to pick up their food, much like a regular kingfisher dives for fish in water. These special birds are only found in a small area, including the Moluccas, New Guinea, and parts of Northern Australia.
Wallace described the Ambon species as one of the largest and most beautiful. He said it was about 17 inches long, including its tail. Its beak was coral red, its belly pure white, and its back and wings were deep purple. Its shoulders, head, and neck had patches of bright azure blue. He was very excited about this new species!
Where Does the Common Paradise Kingfisher Live?
You can find the common paradise kingfisher living in the forests of New Guinea and on some islands near its coast. It doesn't live everywhere in these areas; its home is a bit scattered. On the mainland, it usually lives below 500 meters (about 1,640 feet) in elevation. On Karkar Island, it can be found up to 820 meters (about 2,690 feet) high.
On some islands, you'll find different but similar kingfisher species instead. For example, the Biak paradise kingfisher lives on Biak Island. The Kofiau paradise kingfisher is on Kofiau Island, and the Numfor paradise kingfisher is on Numfor Island. It seems these island birds started from common paradise kingfishers that got separated from the mainland. Over time, they changed and became new species.
How Does This Kingfisher Live? Its Ecology
The common paradise kingfisher is a common bird and usually stays in one place. It doesn't migrate far. However, some birds might move out of monsoon rainforests during the dry season. A pair of these birds will protect their own area, which is about 0.3 to 0.5 hectares (about 0.7 to 1.2 acres) in size.
They build their nests inside active termite nests in trees. Termites build big mounds, called termitariums, against tree trunks. The kingfishers dig a hole in the side of these earthy mounds. The tunnel can be about 15 centimeters (6 inches) long, leading to a chamber about 13 centimeters (5 inches) wide at the end. They often try digging in a few spots before choosing the best one.
Female kingfishers usually lay about five eggs between November and March. Both parents work together to take care of the young birds.
What Does It Eat?
This kingfisher loves to eat small creatures without backbones, called invertebrates. Its diet includes earthworms, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, centipedes, and snails. Sometimes, it might even eat small lizards!
The bird often sits very still on a low branch, watching. It might twist its head or flick its tail. When it sees something move below, it quickly swoops down to the forest floor to grab its prey. Then, it flies back to its branch to eat. It also picks insects off leaves. For earthworms, it searches through the leaf litter and pokes its beak into the soft ground.
Is the Common Paradise Kingfisher Safe? Its Status
The Tanysiptera galatea has a very large area where it lives and is known to be common. Experts believe the number of these birds might be slowly going down because of logging in their forest homes. However, this decrease is not happening fast enough to cause a big worry. Because of this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has decided that its conservation status is "least concern". This means it's not currently at high risk of disappearing.
