Alcedo meninting

Sungai Congkak, Malaysia & Singapore

Kingfishers or Alcedinidae are a family of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The family contains 114 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera.

All kingfishers have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with only small differences between the sexes. The kingfishers have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring throughout the world's tropical and temperate regions. They are absent from the polar regions and some of the world's driest deserts. A number of species have reached islands groups, particularly those in the south and east Pacific Ocean. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey usually caught by swooping down from a perch. While kingfishers are usually thought to live near rivers and eat fish, many species live away from water and eat small invertebrates. Like other members of their order, they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. Some kingfishers nest in arboreal termite nests.

A number of species are considered threatened by human activities and are in danger of extinction. The majority of these are forest species with limited distribution, particularly insular species. They are threatened by habitat loss caused by forest clearance or degradation and in some cases by introduced species.

Kingfishers are generally shy birds, but in spite of this, they feature heavily in human culture, generally due to the large head supporting its powerful mouth, their bright plumage, or some species' interesting behavior. For the Dusun people of Borneo, the Oriental dwarf kingfisher is considered a bad omen, and warriors who see one on the way to battle should return home. Another Bornean tribe considers the Banded kingfisher an omen bird, albeit generally a good omen.

I have been able to photograph a few of these beautiful kingfishers from all across Asia Pacific with some coming quite easily and some coming after waiting for hours, damp and cold but worth every bit the wait. Read about some of the kingfishers I have already written about.

Today is about one of these gorgeous birds at close quarters - the Blue-eared Kingfisher. But first a little bit about the fascinating habitats these birds frequent.

Sungai Congkak

About 35 kilometres from both Kuala Lumpur city center and Selangor’s Kajang town, lies the Sungai Congkak Recreational Forest, or Hutan Lipur Sungai Congkak. Also known as Chongkak Park & Resort, it is s a popular recreational forest in the Hulu Langat district of Selangor state and is managed by Tourism Selangor.

A dipterocarp rainforest that is part of the great Titiwangsa mountain range, Sungai Congkak Recreational Forest is rich in flora and fauna with meandering, crystal-clear rivers. Nestled in a cool and hilly area of Hulu Langat, the route leading to the forest passes through quaint towns and villages where the pace of life is noticeably slower.

Slightly deeper into Sungai Congkak Recreational Forest is the starting point of a challenging hiking trail to Bukit Chenuang (Chenuang Hill) which takes about an hour. Reaching an altitude of about 850 meters, the peak here provides great views of the surrounding valley. From Bukit Chenuang, one can continue hiking the trail to Bukit Batu Kumbang, which is about an hour away. The views of the Titiwangsa mountain range from the peak of Bukit Batu Kumbang make it a worthwhile hike.

Read about my other birds from this beautiful habitat. These are but a few I have written about so far.

Singapore

Singapore’s urbanisation cost it almost 95% of its historical forests and just over half of the naturally occurring fauna & flora in Singapore is present in its numerous nature reserves. These nature reserves comprise only about 0.25% of Singapore’s land area and to combat this decline the government, from 1967, has tried to make Singapore a ‘garden city’. Since then, nearly 10% of Singapore’s land has been set aside for parks & nature reserves resulting in about 350 species of birds found within an area of just 650 km² offering enthusiasts excellent birding throughout the year. The best period is between August and April when the migrants, mostly from the Palearctic fly in, and together with the resident birds make it an exciting time.

Talking only of kingfishers, Singapore is home to a total of eight different types of kingfisher of which there are two stunning and rare. The first is our focus today, the blue-eared kingfisher and then there’s the oriental dwarf kingfisher that can sometimes be spotted in the winter.

Apart from all the birding, Singapore is also a very picturesque city and lends itself kindly to some amazing wide angled cityscapes. Here are some 16:9 photos of a few glittering landmarks.

The Blue-eared Kingfisher I have seen at numerous locations within Singapore like the Windsor Nature Park, Marina Bay Area, Jurong Eco Garden.

With that said lets move on to the photos of this gorgeous little kingfisher.

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Blue-eared Kingfisher

The Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) also called the Malaysian Kingfisher, belongs to the family of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds, Alcedinidae. These kingfisher species are distributed in India, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Philippines. These are river kingfishers and there are six recognised subspecies. 

These subspecies are separated by the several plumage variations in the population that occur across its wide distribution range.

• A. m. coltarti Baker ECS, 1919 – Nepal, northeast India, northern Thailand and Indochina

• A. m. phillipsi Baker ECS, 1927 – southwest India and Sri Lanka

• A. m. scintillans Baker ECS, 1919 – southern Myanmar and Thailand

• A. m. rufigastra Walden, 1873 – Andaman Islands

• A. m. meninting Horsfield, 1821 – southern Malay Peninsula, Borneo, southern Philippines, Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Java, Lombok, Sulawesi, Banggai & Sula Islands. This is the subspecies illustrated here.

Some other subspecies such as verreauxii, callima, subviridis and proxima are not considered to be sufficiently distinct. The Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) is closely related to the Near Threatened Blyth’s Kingfisher (Alcedo hercules), the Shining-blue Kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys) from Equatorial Africa and the Half-collared Kingfisher (Alcedo semitorquata) also found in southern and eastern Africa.

The blue-eared kingfisher gets its name from the Latin word - Alcedo - meaning “kingfisher” and the epithet meninting from the Javanese word for the species. The overall plumage of blue-eared kingfisher is bluish on the upper parts and rufous on the under parts. The crown, nape and face are bright ultramarine. The crown is closely banded with darker ultramarine striations. There is a rufous frontal spot in males. On both the sides of the neck, there is white blaze. Their distinguishing feature is bluish ear stripe. The chin and throat are whitish.

This kingfisher is very similar to the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) with the distinguishing characteristic being the ear stripe. The ear stripe is bluish in the former whereas it is rufous in the later. In the blue-eared kingfisher, the crown and upperparts are coloured a darker and richer ultramarine and the underparts are a darker reddish brown. The adult males have dark bill with white tip and the females have a reddish lower mandible. The irises are black. The feet are reddish in color. Their call is a single high pitched “trreee-tee” sound.

These non-migratory, sedentary and resident blue-eared kingfisher species have low forest dependency inhabiting various artificial and natural ecosystems with proximity to water. The blue-eared kingfishers inhabit plantations near natural or man made water canals and rural and also urban gardens and parks with water bodies. They are found in tropical and subtropical moist lowland forests, tropical and subtropical mangrove forests, tropical and subtropical wetlands, wetlands with rivers, streams or creeks and shallow marine estuaries occurring in altitudes from 0 to 1000 meters.

The diet of this kingfisher species primarily comprises of small fish, crustaceans, dragonfly nymphs and aquatic insects. They have also been observed to prey on grasshoppers and mantises. The kingfisher perches on a branch of a tree overhanging a densely shaded slow moving stream or river. On locating its prey, it dives into water for its catch and if successful it flies back to its perch. It batters the prey on the branch before swallowing it head first.

The breeding season is from April to August in northern India, with a peak period in May and June. The breeding season is from April to July in Myanmar. Their nest is a meter long tunnel excavated in the bank of a stream. The clutch has about 5 to 7 white spherical eggs.

The global population size of the blue-eared kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) is not quantified but the overall population size of these species is considered to be on the decline. Throughout its ranges the kingfisher is reported to be widespread but seldom common. The generation length is 4.4 years. The blue-eared kingfisher does not approach the thresholds for being Vulnerable either under the range size criterion or under the population trend criterion or under the population size criterion. Riverine habitat loss is the main threat that may endanger the survival of these species.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has categorized and evaluated the kingfisher species and has listed it as of "Least Concern". CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) status is ‘Not Evaluated’ for the blue-eared kingfisher (Alcedo meninting).

The following gallery of the Blue-eared Kingfisher is of the birds observed & photographed at Sungai Congkak & Singapore.

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