Shovel-billed Kookaburra
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| Shovel-billed Kookaburra | ||||||||||||||
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| Clytoceyx rex Sharpe, 1880 |
The Shovel-billed Kookaburra, Clytoceyx rex, also known as the Shovel-billed Kingfisher, is a large, approximately 33cm long, dark brown tree kingfisher with a heavy, short and broad bill. It has a dark head with rufous stripe behind eye, a white throat, brown iris, rufous neck collar, a brown bill with paler mandible, pinkish brown feet and rufous underparts. Both sexes are similar in appearance, but are easily recognized from the color of tail coverts. The male has a dark bluish tail while female's is rufous. The young has an adult-like plumage with scale-patterned feathers.
The sole representative of the genus Clytoceyx, the Shovel-billed Kookaburra is endemic and distributed to hill and mountain forests of New Guinea. It finds its food in the mud or on moist ground. The diet consists mainly of earthworms, snails, beetles, lizards and insects.
Widespread in its large but sparse habitat range, the Shovel-billed Kookabura is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Clytoceyx rex. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 13 January 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
