Giant Kingfisher - Birds of central Kenya

Sometimes you go out and you are really not expecting to see anything. And then you hear a sound and you know you cant resist it because if you are like us you probably love birds. So camera read we focus in the direction of the sound and this is what we get. At first we are not sure as this one is not common. So we ask and yes it has been seen before.
The Giant King fisher which should look like this

 With this picture from others we decide, next time we will get a clearer view as we will not be caught off guard. So what is it about this bird?
Here is a little info

The Giant Kingfisher is the largest of Africa.

The adult male has dark grey upperparts with white-edged feathers, creating barred and streaked effect. The tail is dark grey-brown with narrow white bars.

On the underparts, chin and throat are white. The breast is rich chestnut with faint darker barring. The belly is white with dark grey bars. The underwing-coverts are white.On the head, face and hindneck are dark grey to blackish, finely spotted white. Lores and ear-coverts are black with small white loral spot. The cheeks are darker, but the lower part of the head side is white, with two white spots on the lower nape. The crown exhibits a conspicuous stiff shaggy crest, made with black, white-spotted feathers.

The long, heavy beak is greyish-black. The eyes are dark brown. Legs and feet are grey.The adult female has similar upperparts, but she has white breast densely spotted black. Belly, flanks, undertail and underwing-coverts are rich chestnut.

We find two subspecies.The nominate race M.m. maxima is described above and displayed on this page.
The race M.m. gigantea is darker, with more uniform dark grey upperparts and heavier black barring on the underparts.The race “maxima” is usually found in more open country than “gigantea” which is mostly a rainforest species. 

The Giant Kingfisher frequents rivers, streams, lakes, dams and even mountain streams with marginal wooded areas, both in forests and savannahs. It is also found in coastal lagoons, mangroves, estuaries and seashores, and occasionally on stagnant pools along dried-up rivers. It can be seen up to 100 metres from the water.

The Giant Kingfisher feeds mainly on aquatic preys such as fish, river crabs, amphibians and also small reptiles and insects. It perches on branch or rock overhanging the water from where it can scans for preys. Then, it dives in steep or shallow dive and disappears underwater to catch the prey, before to return quickly to the same perch. It also may hover above open water, as numerous kingfishers do. 

There now we have it and we are pleased as this will definitely add to our increased bird collection. We are a happy lot as we go out in search of more birds

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