Banded Kingfisher – crest and call

“The Banded Kingfisher (Lacedo pulchella melanops) (abpve) was easy to watch and we had good views of a male calling for long periods. This kingfisher often raises its crest feathers and at frequent intervals (below).

“The reason for this behaviour is uncertain. Some suggest it is due to excitement or an aggressive display; others that it could be a mating ritual. The fact that it happens when human observers are present suggests that it could be distress or an aggressive display towards humans. It would be good to obtain documentation when there are no humans around (remote video recording).

“An edited call recording (below) and Sonograms/Waveforms of classical calls (below). As described by Phillipps (2014), the calls are a mournful, two-tone ‘pee-yoo’.

“Also called the Bornean Banded Kingfisher or Black-faced Kingfisher (Lacedo melanops) and considered by some to be a separate species and an endemic of Borneo. The key difference from the mainland (Lacedo pulchella pulchella) and Sumatran birds is blackish forehead, the black cheeks and collar.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
2nd May 2016

Location: Sepilok, Sandakan, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
Habitat: Secondary growth adjacent primary jungle