Having The Unmatched Ability To Sit Motionless For Long Periods Of Time, He, Unlike Other Members Of His Species, Has No Dependence On Water!

Able to sit motionless for long periods he still stands out thanks to his almost iridescent orange plumage!

The Madagascar pygmy kingfisher

The Madagascar pygmy kingfisher (Corythornis madagascariensis) is a small kingfisher measuring 13 cm in length and weighing in at 17 to 22 grams. He has an almost fluorescent orange head and back with violet along the margins of the nape and rump. There’s a white patch on both sides of the neck running toward the nape. Primary feathers on the wings are black while the underparts are white from the chin to the undertail-coverts, The sides are rufous, the bill is orange, the eyes black and the legs and feet are orange.

Female birds look very similar to male birds.

Related Reading:

– A rather mundane-looking sooty-black bird is transformed by a pair of vibrant yellow pantaloons!

Juvenile birds are dull in comparison to adult birds with a reduced violet wash.

These birds are endemic to the island country of Madagascar.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Uwe Zimmermann (@uwe.zmann.photo)

 Madagascar Kingfishers are found along the western margins of dry deciduous forests below 1,000 meters and rarely above 1,200 meters.

They like to dine on frogs and insects as well as shrimp. However, they will sometimes take small reptiles as they have no dependence on water.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marcello Galleano (@marcellogalleano)

During the breeding season which is in the rainy season, running from October through to January both the male and the female build a nest by digging a tunnel around 30 to 35 cm long and 5 centimeters wide in an earth bank. Up to four eggs are laid within which are incubated by both birds. The incubation is thought to last somewhere between two to four weeks

Though the population of this bird has been declining for the last several years they are still regarded as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

You can watch this bird right here in the video below:

This article uses material from Wikipedia.org which is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License via Copyright Wikipedia. Images on this page are the sole property of the photographers (unless marked as Public Domain). Please read the license and or contact the photographers directly before using them for any purpose. Thank you all.

So Tiny Yet So Striking When Wearing His Multi-hued, Technicolor Jigsaw Of Iridescent Green, Purple, Black, And Red!

Please SHARE these great shots with all your bird-loving friends and family.