White-throated Kingfisher The White Throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)is the State bird of West Bengal. It is also known as the white breasted kingfisher or Smyrna kingfisher.
It can be found well away from water where it feeds on a wide range of prey that includes small reptiles, amphibians, crabs,small rodents and even birds. In West Bengal it is also called as
"Sandabuk Machhranga" by the locals.
Seen in all countries:
White-throated kingfishers range from Turkey in the west to the Philippines in the east, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Food Habits:
White-throated kingfishers are carnivorous generalists that eat many organisms, including locusts, crickets, beetles, mantises, ants, termites, dragonflies, grasshoppers, Ocypode and Paratelphusa crabs , scorpions, centipedes, Mabuya and Calotes lizards, mice, frogs, small perching birds, and fish. Individuals hunt by flying forth from an observation post over clear ground or water to seize prey. Prey is often seized off the ground and then flown to the perch, where it is bludgeoned or stabbed before being swallowed.
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