Africa Wild

Pied Kingfisher Courtship Feeding Series:

Nice pics of the feeding behaviour ExFmem.

Females assess potential suitors by the amount/frequency of fish they can catch so that they know beforehand that their partners are up to the job of feeding both the female and the chicks.

Alcedinidae (river kingfishers)
The taxonomy of the family is uncertain at present: it includes two to four genera. The uncertainty arises from two small African species. The African Dwarf Kingfisher is sometimes placed in the monospecific genus Myioceyx, and sometimes with the Pygmy Kingfishers in Ispidina.
The Ceyx and Ispidina species are mainly birds of wet rainforest or other woodland, and are not necessarily associated with water. The Alcedo kingfishers are usually closely associated with fresh water, often in open habitats although some are primarily forest birds.
They nest in burrows and lay white eggs in a self-excavated burrow.
Across the family, the bill colour is linked to diet. The insectivorous species have red bills, and the fish-eaters have black bills. The small Ceyx and Ispidina species feed mainly on insects and spiders, but also take tadpoles, frogs and mayfly nymphs from puddles. The will flycatch, and their bills are red bills are flattened to assist in the capture of insects. The Alcedo kingfishers are typically fish-eaters with black bills, but will also take aquatic invertebrates, spiders and lizards. A few species are mainly insectivorous and have red bills. Typically fish are caught by a dive into the water from a perch, although the kingfisher might hover briefly.
The alcedinid kingfishers are distributed through Eurasia, Africa, Madagascar, Australasia and Oceania. There are three genera of which two, Alcedo and Ispidina occur in southern Africa. There are 17 species of Alcedo of which two occur in southern Africa. The genus Ispidina occurs in Africa and Madagascar and there are three species of which one occurs in southern Africa.

Species indigenous to southern Africa:
Alcedo cristata (Malachite kingfisher)
Alcedo semitorquata (Half-collared kingfisher)
Ispidina picta (African pygmy-kingfisher, Pygmy kingfisher)

Malachite Kingfisher - Alcedo cristata

Most common small kingfisher in the region. It is seldom found away from the water’s edge. The key distinguishing feature is the blue crown plumage that extends down to the eyes. Diet consists of mainly small fish and tadpoles, also frogs and insects.

Malachite Kingfisher

The only Malachite I have ever seen..

Half-collared Kingfisher Alcedo semitorquata

A small kingfisher with a black bill and blue ear-coverts with large white bands on the side of the head. The underparts are pale and the white on the throat is extensive.
It occurs in well -wooded banks, preferring fast-flowing rivers and branches hanging over the water.

Half-collared Kingfisher, Ithala KZN