Fridays for flying

Black-Capped Kingfisher (Halcyon

Pileata)
The Black-capped Kingfisher stands at 11-12 inches. The upper part of the
head is black, with a white breast and throat, an orange stomach, and blue
underparts. The large bill is a bright shade of red along with the legs in
contrast to the wings. Both genders look identical at 700-900 grams in weight.
The juveniles have a smaller stockier shape and are duller shades. It has a call
that sounds like ‘ki-ki-ki’ and comes in short bursts.

It stays closer to freshwater bodies, wetlands, coastal regions, and forests.

Found in South/Southeast Asia, it is spread across China, most of India such
as Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh Assam. It is also found in Japan, North and South Korea,
Malaysia, Bangladesh, Philippines etc. Being a migratory bird, it breeds in
India, Bangladesh, and China, but it moves to Pakistan, Malaysia, and Thailand
when the winter sets in and sometimes in autumn.

Its diet, like other kingfishers, is insects, small reptiles, amphibians and fishes.
But mostly it is just grasshoppers, locusts, wasps, and bees. After observing
its prey from a few metres above, the Black-Capped Kingfisher swoops down
and catches it in its large beak. It also hunts in the mudflats at low tide for
crabs and amphibians.

The females start laying the eggs in India around April and it ends in June.
There are 4-5 eggs laid per nest dug in the ground and about 9-11 cm in
diameter.
Despite the population estimation to be above 10,000, it is classified as
vulnerable because it has been rapidly decreasing for the past decade. The
threats are mostly habitat loss and hunting of the species. Another major
threat to it is consumption of contaminated fish, due to direct waste disposal
in water bodies, over exploitation of fish and pollution.

In the Aarey forest of Mumbai, 2141 trees were cut down destroying the
habitat of several birds and animals including the Black-Capped Kingfisher.

They are indicator species and help sustain the wetland habitat. Not much
data of the bird is available due to lack of scientific assessment. We must
stop overfishing because these birds' lives depend on this. The government
must take action against the illegal dumping of trash in water bodies. Stop
polluting water bodies and destructing Black-Capped Kingfisher’s habitat.