The courtship behaviour of the Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis is poorly documented. I have occasionally watched this behaviour and have previously written a little about it (see reference).
On 14 December 2023 I again observed the courtship behaviour of the Stork-billed Kingfisher. I was watching a Stork-billed Kingfisher at a wetlands site on the outskirts of Ipoh city, Perak, Malaysia. As I attempted to slowly approach the bird, another Stork-billed Kingfisher flew in and dislodged it. At first, I thought it was a territorial dispute, but the other bird only flew a few meters away to watch, while the ‘new’ bird started to display.
The display included:
- ‘Sky-pointing’ – the body is held vertically with the beak pointed to the sky. See Plate 1.
- ‘Plumage-flash’ – the bright blue of the back and rump were intermittently flashed. See composite in Plate 2.
- ‘Head bobbing’ – this was a common behaviour.
- ‘Tail flick’ – the bird would often sharply lift up the tail. See Plate 3.
- ‘Wing-flash’ – this occurred very briefly and infrequently (unlike the courtship of White-throated Kingfishers where it is common).
Loud calls were made intermittently during the display. I presumed that the displaying bird was the male and the observing bird the female. After approximately 90 seconds of this behaviour the two birds flew off together and I could hear the pair duetting in the distance. A call recording of the courtship duet song is here.
Other observers note that “males will court females by offering them fish or by performing acrobatic flights to impress their potential mates” (Nepal Desk). I have yet to observe courtship feeding.
References
- Amar-Singh HSS (2017). Stork-billed Kingfisher – Display and calls. Bird Ecology Study Group. https://besgroup.org/2017/07/26/stork-billed-kingfisher-display-and-calls/
- Nepal Desk. Stork-billed Kingfisher: Large-Billed Fisher of Tropical Waters. https://nepaldesk.com/bird/stork-billed-kingfisher
Amar
(Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS)
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
