IDENTIFICATION

VOCALISATIONS

The flight call is a fairly loud and moderately high-pitched ‘kip’.

DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE

In HK, where riverine habitat is scarce, Crested Kingfishr utilises reservoirs, forested streams and creeks, rocky coastlines and undisturbed fish ponds with large overhanging trees.

Localities where this species was reported in earlier literature are Tolo Harbour (Vaughan and Jones 1913), Lam Tsuen valley, Brides Pool and Tsing Yi (Herklots 1934), Tai Po Kau (Herklots 1953) and Starling Inlet (Dove and Goodhart 1955). Most reports in the 1950s and 1960s were from Tai Lam Chung Reservoir and Pak Tam (Sai Kung). It was not subsequently recorded until late 1983 when a pair attempted to breed at Plover Cove. Since 1986 it has mainly been seen in the northeast and east New Territories at Nam Chung, Bride’s Pool, Plover Cove Reservoir, Lai Chi Wo, So Lo Pun, Tai Mei Tuk and Ting Kok. Elsewhere, it has occurred at Pak Tam Chung, on Lantau at Yi O and Tung Chung and even (once) at Tsim Bei Tsui.

OCCURRENCE

Crested Kingfisher has always been a sporadic visitor to HK in a manner that suggests dispersal from areas of occurrence in the region followed by temporary occupancy. It has not been recorded as a large population, nor with any degree of predictability in the manner of a migrant species. Figure 1 illustrates the pattern of occurrence since 1957.

The first record in HKBWS files concerns one at Tai Lam Chung Reservoir on 21 October 1957 (not as stated in Carey et al. (2001)). It was recorded sporadically in the 1950s and 1960s, but not at all in the 1970s. The next record concerned a pair that attempted to breed at Plover Cover in winter 1984/84, but in the same decade it was only reported on two other occasions, both in the northeast New Territories. It was recorded more frequently at a wider spread of sites in the 1990s (almost annually) as observer activity increased. However, despite even higher levels of observer activity since then, the frequency of sightings reduced after the turn of the century, and it is now seen less much less than annually. There was a five year gap between 2004 and 2009 and it was only recorded in one year (2017) from 2009 to 2020.

BREEDING

Herklots (1967) refers to a pair resident in Lam Tsuen Valley in the 1930s, and a second pair recognised in 1947 as probably resident in the “Tai Po Kau valley”.

A pair seen at Plover Cove from 20 December 1983 to 11 March 1984 attempted to breed in a nest hole; however, the outcome was uncertain, and it appears likely they failed. There is no substantive evidence of breeding activity since then. However, it is likely that HK has always been a marginal location for this species given the relative lack of suitable habitat.

BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET

Dives for fish from a perch and does not hover in the manner of Pied Kingfisher.

RANGE & SYSTEMATICS

Resident from the Himalayas east to south and east China as far north as Liaoning province and into North Korea, and south to north Indochina (Woodall 2020).

Four subspecies are recognised of which M. l. guttulata occurs from the east Himalayas east to China and south to north Indochina.

CONSERVATION STATUS

IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend decreasing.