Birds of Srilanka (Part 3)

Kingfisher


Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes.The group is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with extinction.
 The kingfishers feed on a wide variety of items. They are most famous for hunting and eating fish, and some species do specialize in catching fish. Individual species may specialize in a few items or take a wide variety of prey, and for species with large global distributions different populations may have different diets.
 Woodland and forest kingfishers take mainly insects, particularly grasshoppers, whereas the water kingfishers are more specialized in taking fish. The Red-backed Kingfisher has been observed hammering into the mud nests of Fairy Martins to feed on their nestlings. Kingfishers usually hunt from an exposed perch, when a prey item is observed the kingfisher swoops down to snatch it, then returns to the perch. Kingfishers of all three families beat larger prey on a perch in order to kill the prey and to dislodge or break protective spines and bones. Having beaten the prey it is manipulated and then swallowed.

Like all Coraciiformes the kingfishers are cavity nesters, with most species nesting in holes dug in the ground. These holes are usually in earth banks on the sides of rivers, lakes or human ditches and banks. Some species may nest in holes in trees, the earth clinging to the roots of an uprooted tree, or arboreal nests of termites (termitarium). These termite nests are common in forest species. The nests take the form of a small chamber at the end of a tunnel. Nest digging duties are shared; during the initial excavations the bird may fly at the chosen site with considerable force, and birds have injured themselves fatally while doing this. The length of the tunnels varies by species and location, nests in termitariums are necessarily much shorter than those dug into the earth, and nests in harder substrate are shorter than those in soft soil or sand. The longest tunnels recorded are those of the Giant Kingfisher, which have been found to be 8.5 m long.
The eggs of kinfishers are invariably white and glossy. The typical clutch size varies by species; some of the very large and very small species lay as few as two eggs per clutch, whereas others may lay 10 eggs, the average is around three to six eggs. Both sexes incubate the eggs.






Gallus Lafayetii (Sri Lanka Junglefowl)

The Sri Lankan Junglefowl (Gallus lafayetii), also known during the colonial era as the Ceylon Junglefowl, is a member of the pheasant family which isendemic to Sri Lanka, where it is the national bird. It is closely related to the Red Junglefowl (G. gallus), the wild junglefowl from which the chicken was domesticated. The specific name of the Sri Lankan Junglefowl commemorates the French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette. In Sinhala it is known as Wali Kukula.

As with other junglefowl, the Sri Lankan Junglefowl is strongly sexually dimorphic: the male is much larger than the female, with more vivid plumage and a highly exaggerated wattle and comb.

The male Sri Lankan Junglefowl ranges from 66–73 cm long, essentially resembling a large, muscular rooster. The male has orange-red body plumage, and dark purple to black wings and tail. The feathers of the mane descending from head to base of spine are golden, and the face has bare red skin and wattles. The comb is red with a yellow centre. As with the Green Junglefowl, the cock does not possess an eclipse plumage.

The female is much smaller, at only 35 cm, with dull brown plumage with white patterning on the lower belly and breast, ideal camouflage for a nesting bird.

As with most other pheasants, Sri Lanka Junglefowl is a terrestrial species. It spends most of its time foraging for food by scratching the ground for variousseeds, fallen fruit and insects.

It is a ground nesting bird, and lays 2-4 eggs in a nest. Similar to many members of the pheasant family, the colourful male plays no part in the incubation of the eggs or rearing of the precocial young. These duties are performed by the drab and well-camouflaged female.

Like the Grey and Green Junglefowl, male Sri Lankan Junglefowl play an active role in nest protection and chick rearing.

The reproductive strategy of this species is best described as facultative polyandry, in that a single female is typically linked with two or three males that form a pride of sorts. These males are likely to be siblings. The female pairs with the alpha male of the pride and nests high off the ground.

Her eggs are highly variable in colour but generally are cream with a yellow or pink tint. Purple or brownish spots are common.

Occasionally a female will produce red eggs or blotched eggs.

The hen incubates her eggs, while the alpha male guards her nest from a nearby perch during the nesting season. The beta males remain in close proximity as well guarding the nesting territory from intruders or potential predators, such as rival males, or snakes and mongooses. Sri Lankan Junglefowl are unique amongst the junglefowl in the brevity of their incubation, which may be as short as twenty days as contrasted with the 21–26 days of the Green Junglefowl.