Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx erithaca 三趾翠鳥
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
May 2017, Michelle and Peter Wong.
12.5-14 cm. Unmistakeable small kingfisher with bright orange-red bill, orange underparts, blue mantle and back and purplish-pink rump and uppertail coverts.
May 2017, Michelle and Peter Wong.
The underparts are orange and on the underwing the greater coverts are whitish while the medians and lesser are pale orange.
VOCALISATIONS
High-pitched call, slightly thinner than that of Common Kingfisher.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
Has occurred at a forest stream in Tai Po Kau and a tidally influenced stream on the migrant hotspot of Po Toi.
OCCURRENCE
2015: one at Tai Po Kau on 7 May 2015 (Luk and Welch 2017).
2017: one on Po Toi on 1 May 2017.
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
Birds in HK have been shy and elusive.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Occurs along the coast of west India and from northeast India through Indochina to southwest China, and south through peninsula Malaysia and Sumatra, in both of which it is a winter visitor (Limparungpatthanakij and Hansasuta 2022). In China, it has been recorded in Yunnan and Hainan (Liu and Chen 2020). Three subspecies are recognised, that relevant to HK (based on observed plumage) being the nominate, which occurs on mainland southeast Asia.
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Overall status in bold.
Limparungpatthanakij , W. L. and C. Hansasuta (2022). Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca), version 2.1. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly and B. K. Keeney, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bkbkin1.02.1
Liu, Y. and Y. H. Chen (eds) (2020). The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China (in Chinese). Hunan Science and Technology Publication House, Changsha.
Luk, K. C. and G. Welch (2017). Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx erithaca at Tai Po Kau: the first Hong Kong record. Hong Kong Bird Report 2015: 273-274.
