What to Know About the Blue-Breasted Kingfisher in Uganda?

The Blue-Breasted Kingfisher in Uganda is one of the African birds of Uganda seen during a Uganda birding safari.

The blue-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher widely distributed across Equatorial Africa. This kingfisher is essentially resident but retreats from drier savanna areas to wetter habitats in the dry season.

The blue-breasted kingfisher is so common along the Royal Mile in Budongo forest-Uganda.

How Does the Blue-Breasted Kingfisher in Uganda Look Like?

The blue-breasted kingfisher is a brightly colored forest-dwelling bird. Although it catches fish, like its close relation, the kingfisher, it also enjoys a much wider variety of food: termites, wasps, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, crabs, frogs, small reptiles, young birds and tiny mammals.

The pairs are monogamous, territorial and usually nest in holes they make in those termite nests that are high enough off the ground, where they usually lay between two and four eggs.

The large kingfisher is 25cm in length.

How Does the Blue-Breasted Kingfisher in Uganda Sing and Make Calls?

The call of this noisy kingfisher is a whistled pu-pu-pu-pu-ku-ku-ku-ku.

How Does the Blue-Breasted Kingfisher in Uganda Feed?

Although it can indeed fish for fish like its close relative the common kingfisher, its diet is much more varied: termites, wasps, locusts, beetles, spiders, crabs, molluscs, frogs, small reptiles, fledgling birds and micro-mammals.

How Does the Blue-Breasted Kingfisher in Uganda Nest?

Monogamous, pairs usually build their nest in holes that they dig in termite nests at some height, where the female lays two to four eggs.

They suffer some pillaging of their nests, as the arboreal termite mounds they use as a substrate for the nest are often attacked by other bird species, reptiles, and even mammals, especially chimpanzees.