Black-capped Kingfisher

How to identify

Field marks

1. Head and scapulars black
2. Large bill, legs, and feet bright red
3. White collar and throat
4. Wings and back violet-blue; underparts reddish-brown

Male, female and young

Sexes similar; juvenile is duller, with stripes on the throat.

Voice

A clucking, laughter-like “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: December–January · Most records: Thailand, China, Cambodia

Black-capped Kingfisher has been recorded at 659 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 16 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

ThailandChinaCambodiaMalaysiaSingaporeIndiaVietnamBangladesh

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The black-capped kingfisher (Halcyon pileata) is a tree kingfisher which is widely distributed in tropical Asia from India east to China, Korea and Southeast Asia. This most northerly of the tree kingfishers is resident over much of its range, but northern populations are migratory, wintering south of their range in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Borneo and Java. It is distinctive in having a black cap that contrasts with the whitish throat, purple-blue wings and the coral red bill.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions