Sacred Kingfisher Information & Sacred Kingfisher Links at HealthHaven.com

Sacred Kingfisher
	Sacred Kingfisher (male); (Todiramphus sanctus)
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Class:	Aves;
Order:	Coraciiformes;
Family:	Halcyonidae;
Genus:	Todiramphus;
Species:	T. sanctus;
Binomial name
	Todiramphus sanctus; (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
Synonyms
	Halcyon sancta

The Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) is a tree kingfisher found in the mangroves, forests, and river valleys of Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand (where the species is also called by its Māori name Kotare ^[1]), Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands.

It has also occurred as a vagrant in Christmas Island (in the Indian Ocean) ^[2], Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Nauru.

In Australia, it occurs in eucalypt forests, melaleuca forests, woodland and paperbark forests. In New Zealand, T.sanctus vagans shows altitudinal migration, with post-breeding movement from higher altitudes to the coast and also from forest to coast and open lands.

It is 19-23 cm long, and feeds on insects, small crustaceans, fish, small rodents and reptiles but reports of it eating small finches are rare.

Rush Creek, SE Queensland, Australia

[edit] References

^ Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson "The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" (revised edition), Viking, 2005
^ Barry J. Reville "A Visitor's Guide to the Birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean" (2nd ed.), Christmas Island Natural History Association, 1993

BirdLife International (2004). Todiramphus sanctus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sacred Kingfisher
(Todiramphus sanctus)

Wikispecies has information related to: Todiramphus sanctus

This Coraciiformes-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[0] Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson "The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" (revised edition), Viking, 2005

[1] Barry J. Reville "A Visitor's Guide to the Birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean" (2nd ed.), Christmas Island Natural History Association, 1993

[1]

[2]