Ugandan Birds: The Blue Kingfisher

You will generally find this Blue Kingfisher  (Alcedo Quadribrachys) staying in mangroves, marshes and lakes. The best spot to watch this African bird in Uganda is at the Bigodi wetland sanctuary.

The female Blue kingfisher bird lays 2-3 eggs in a tree-hole nest. And both the male and female can incubate.You will not be able to easily differentiate the female birds from the male ones because they look alike. However, you will quickly identify the young birds by their pale colours.

The most interesting time you would love to watch this Blue Kingfisher is during  feeding. This Ugandan bird feeds on small aquatic animals like fish and frogs, as well as seeds, grains and small insects. The bird uses its long beak to poke into water when looking for food. Here is her hunting strategy; Perch dive and catch, bring the fish to the perch trash it till it is dead and then eat it.

You will enjoy watching this bird bobbing its head up and down as she judges the distance of her prey from the perch just before she dives for the unfortunate fish.

Characteristics of a Blue Kingfisher

• You will see a small bird with a thick long beak which is black in color on a blue head.
• This bird has a yellow lining on the neck, between its head and back.
• The back is blue with a mixture of yellow color and the wings are a mixture of blue and gold.
• This bird has yellow breast bands.
• On the legs you will see a light yellow color.
• The bird has small sunken eye which are small.
• This Blue kingfisher has a short tail.