Yellow-billed kingfisher facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellow-billed kingfisher |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Syma
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| Species: |
torotoro
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| Synonyms | |
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Halcyon torotoro |
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The yellow-billed kingfisher (Syma torotoro) is a cool bird that lives in trees. It's a type of tree kingfisher, which means it mostly lives in forests and hunts for food there. This bird is known for its bright colors and its special yellow beak!
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Meet the Yellow-Billed Kingfisher
The yellow-billed kingfisher is about 20 cm (7.9 in) (about 8 inches) long. That's roughly the length of a standard pencil! Its wings can spread out to 29 cm (11 in) (about 11.5 inches) wide. This bird is quite light, weighing only 30–50 g (1.1–1.8 oz) (about 1 to 1.8 ounces).
What Does a Yellow-Billed Kingfisher Look Like?
This bird is easy to spot because of its bright orange body and, of course, its yellow beak. It has an orange head and neck. There's a black patch on the back of its neck and a white throat. Female kingfishers also have a black patch on the top of their heads.
The top part of its back is dark, turning into an olive-green color further down. Its lower back is blue-green, and its tail is blue. The top of its wings are a dull green-blue, with dark, almost black, flight feathers. The underside of the bird is a light orange-grey. Young kingfishers have a dark grey beak, which changes to orange-yellow as they grow up.
Where Do Yellow-Billed Kingfishers Live?
You can find the yellow-billed kingfisher in many places. They live across the lowlands of New Guinea and the islands nearby. They also live in the northern part of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia.
What Kind of Home Do They Like?
These kingfishers prefer to live in rainforests and monsoon forests. They also like to hang out along the edges of forests. This gives them plenty of trees for shelter and good spots to hunt for food.
How Yellow-Billed Kingfishers Live Their Lives
What Do Yellow-Billed Kingfishers Eat?
The yellow-billed kingfisher is a skilled hunter. It loves to eat large insects and earthworms. Sometimes, it even catches small snakes and lizards! It usually sits quietly on a low branch, swaying from side to side. Then, it quickly swoops down to the ground to grab its meal.
Reproduction: How Kingfishers Raise Their Young
When it's time to build a nest, the yellow-billed kingfisher gets creative. They often dig a small room inside a termite nest that's built in a tree. The female kingfisher lays about 3 or 4 shiny white eggs. Each egg is about 26 mm × 23 mm (1.0 in × 0.9 in) in size.
What Does a Yellow-Billed Kingfisher Sound Like?
These birds have a very unique call. They make loud, repeated whistling sounds that are a bit like a postman's whistle! You'll hear them making these calls mostly during their breeding season.
Are Yellow-Billed Kingfishers Safe?
Good news! The yellow-billed kingfisher is doing well. They live in a very large area, and there's no sign that their numbers are going down. Because of this, experts say they are a species of Least Concern, which means they are not currently at risk.
Images for kids
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A yellow-billed kingfisher in Weipa, Australia.
