Crested Kingfisher

Megaceryle lugubris

The largest kingfisher in Asia. Sports a shaggy black-and-white crest and hammers fish from Himalayan rapids.

Population: Not quantified in global assessments; described as uncommon to locally common, with population trend suspected/reported decreasing but not steeply enough to approach a threatened-category threshold
Habitat: Fast-flowing forested rivers and streams in foothills and mountains; excavates nest burrows in vertical sandy/earthen banks at least ~2 m high, sometimes as far as 1.5 km from water
Fun fact: Unlike most kingfishers, the Crested Kingfisher rarely hovers before diving, instead plunging for fish from tall streamside perches, and shows sexual dimorphism: females have bright pink-cinnamon underwing coverts washed with pale rufous, while males instead show rufous-orange feathers on the breastband.
Range: South, Central, and East Asia: from northeastern Afghanistan and Kashmir east through the Himalayan foothills, Bhutan, northern India, into China, Korea, Myanmar, Thailand, and northern Indochina (central Vietnam), plus Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu) and the southern Kuril Islands (four recognized subspecies across this range) — has the most restricted overall distribution of any Cerylinae kingfisher
Diet: Specialist fish-eater taking larger fish species (e.g., Japanese dace, pale chub, ayu) than sympatric smaller kingfishers; hunts by diving from elevated perches over rivers rather than hovering
Size: 0.43 m
Lifespan: 8 years

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