I have been hoping to see this bird for as long as I can remember and it has been worth the wait.  Only a recent trip with Eagle-eye Tours, while on a boat trip on the Kinabatangan river, there it was, the Sacred Kingfisher.  This rare migrant from the Australian winter was even better looking than I had imagined.  Previously I had looked carefully at every Collared Kingfisher I came across, the 2 species having strong similarities.  Digiscoping this bird from a rocking boat was a great challenge.  Still I am very pleased with the images I’ve got.

The Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis is the largest kingfisher in Borneo.  Distinguished by its large red bill, it is common along waterways, ponds and wetland.   Its loud kek kek kek calls give away its presence.

At the recent Borneo Bird Festival at Sepilok RDC, this Ruddy Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda came out to meet with the entire birding corps.  Even the normally slow-to-react photographers like myself left with a few shots of this brilliant bird.

Here they are, the 3 Alcedo kingfishers found in Borneo.  These are the fishing kingfishers as compared to the slightly smaller insectivorous Ceyx species.

I find that the Blue-banded Kingfisher A. euryzona is hardest to find, being partial to clean running forest streams which are increasingly harder to come by.  The Common Kingfisher A. atthis is not that common either and it prefers the ponds and wet areas around the paddy fields.  The Blue-eared Kingfisher A. meninting seems to be seen most often, its high-pitched tseet whistle in flight giving away its presence.

I can’t decide which is my favourite, each of them so wonderful in plumage and habit.

Blue-banded Kingfisher female

Common Kingfisher

Blue-eared Kingfisher

With 50 subspecies, the Collared Kingfisher Todirhamphus chloris must be one of the most polymorphic of all bird species. It also ranges across an immense geographical area from the Red Sea to the Samoan islands. In Borneo, this resident bird is found over an impressive altitudinal range from sea level to 1500m, just outside of Kinabalu Park. In urban areas, it has adapted extremely well, seen in gardens and on electrical or telephone cables. Whatever the habitat, the bird’s harsh calls can be heard throughout the day.