Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)
Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii) - HBW 6, p. 201
French: Martin-chasseur à ailes bleues
German: Haubenliest
Spanish: Cucaburra Aliazul
Other common names: Northern Blue-winged Kookaburra, Fawn-breasted/Leach’s Kingfisher, Barking/Howling Jackass
Taxonomy: Dacelo leachii Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, Keppel Bay, eastern Australia.
Racial differentiation difficult to assess, as distribution is almost continuous, and plumage colours affected by environmental factors (darker in wetter areas); variously treated as comprising from one to up to five races in Australia; proposed race mungi, formerly united with occidentalis, now included within nominate; cliftoni is synonym of occidentalis; superflua from S New Guinea and kempi from N Queensland (Cape York Peninsula) are insufficiently distinct to be accepted. Four subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- intermedia Salvadori, 1876 - S & SE New Guinea, from R Mimika to R Fly and from R Eloa to Amazon Bay.
- cervina Gould, 1838 - Melville I, off Northern Territory.
- leachii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 - across N Australia E to Cape York Peninsula, S to Broome in W and to Brisbane (rarely, to Byron Bay) in E.
- occidentalis Gould, 1870 - Hamersley and Pilbara Regions of Western Australia.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A close view of a bird on the top of a wood pole Locality Tully, Queensland, Australia (ssp leachii)
Eldert Groenewoud 26 July 2007 4 years ago 28 sec 4.3 -
A close-up of a bird on a perch Locality Jurong Bird Park, Singapore
Josep del Hoyo 13 August 2007 5 years ago 34 sec 4.2 -
A bird calling, then a close up Locality Northern Territory, Australia
Max Roth 1 June 2005 4 years ago 32 sec 4 -
A bird perched on a telephone post Locality Lester Bridge, Queensland, Australia (ssp leachii)
Tom Tarrant 30 April 1998 8 years ago 30 sec 2.2 -
A bird calling from the top of a tree Locality Varirata National Park, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (mainland), New Guinea
Keith Blomerley 4 September 2008 4 years ago 27 sec 1.7
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Blue-winged Kookaburra, Dacelo leachii leachii, The nominate subspecies is very common across the Northern Territory's Top End.
Locality George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (ssp leachii)
BirdExplorers 22 November 2007 1 year ago 4.4 -
A bird with a little frog on beak.
Locality Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia (ssp leachii)
Hanne and Jens Eriksen 42 weeks ago 4.4 -
Blue-winged Kookaburra. Photo taken at Deep Reach Pool, Fortescue River, Millstream-Chichester National Park, Western Australia
Locality Western Australia, Australia (ssp occidentalis)
scurveedog 26 May 2007 3 years ago 4.3 -
Adult Blue-winged Kookaburra on tree
Locality Mount Carbine, Queensland, Australia
David Taylor 1 January 2010 2 years ago 4 -
Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii) at Prague Zoo.
Locality Zoo Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Elias Neideck 26 weeks ago 3.5 -
Adult bird sitting on the branch.
Locality Vogelpark Walsrode, Walsrode, Lower Saxony, Germany
Tomasz Doroń 3 June 2012 44 weeks ago 3.5
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A bird calling twice Locality London Zoo, London, England, Great Britain
Stuart Fisher 7 February 2009 3 years ago 4 -
A bird calling Locality Varirata National Park, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (mainland), New Guinea
Keith Blomerley 4 September 2008 4 years ago 3
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