CITIZEN SCIENCE TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS GERRIT LOTZ The sparrow-sized African Pygmy Kingfisher Ispidina picta is, as its name suggests, one of the smallest African king- fishers. It is a mere 12 centimetres in length, and only the forest tiny African Dwarf Kingfisher, which occurs in central and West Africa, is smaller, measuring just 10 centimetres from beak tip to tail. A terrestrial species, the African Pygmy Kingfisher frequents woodland, savanna and coastal for- est and it occurs in the subregion as a breeding summer migrant. For the past eight years, Gerrit Lotz has been scintillaWatching African Pygmy Kingfishers documenting the species as it returns each season to breed close to his home in coastal northern KwaZulu-Natal. THE PYGMY Kingfisher can be Returning distinguished from the similar- birds appear looking Malachite Kingfisher by to be site faithful, some- its smaller size, slightly shorter times using exactly the beak and the pink to purple patch same perches as they did of feathers behind the ear. Like the the previous year, poten- Malachite, the juvenile differs from tially indicating that the the adult in having a black bill that same individual is returning gradually changes colour as the to its former breeding site. bird matures, until it attains the Pygmy Kingfishers migrate bright red of adulthood. Malachite at night, feeding and resting up Kingfishers are associated with during the day. To aid their some- water, whereas the African Pygmy what nocturnal habits, they have Kingfisher prefers drier conditions, large eyes relative to their small size in thick bush away from water. and I have observed them flying Intra-African migrants from cen- in near-total darkness. I presume Ttral Africa, the kingfishers begin ar- that the birds’ tendency to travel riving in the eastern and northern at night is in part to protect them regions of South Africa from about from predators when they leave the third week of September to early the cover of thick forest growth on in October. The earliest I have seen their migrations to and from cen- them in my hometown in KwaZulu- tral Africa. Natal was 15 September. In the coastal forest they usually perch at human eye level or lower, frequenting the bottom branches of trees and shrubs. They are unob- trusive birds, frequently sitting mo- tionless for long periods and only revealing their position when they bob their heads. They will suddenly break cover by flying off from the perch without warning, and all the observer will see is a flash of elec- tric blue as the bird disappears. > 28 AFRICAN BIRDLIFE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 AFRICAN PYGMY KINGFISHER 29 THE KINGFISHERS USUAlly EXCA- VATE A NEW NEST EACH YEAR... FROM A POSITION ON THE GROUND THE MALE BEGINS THE PRO- CESS by FLYING INTO A CHOSEN EMBANKMENT AT above Coupling takes In flight they sometimes give a Like others in its family, the he male weighs only 13 to FULL SPEED, RE- place in the darkness soft ‘tjick-tjick’ call, but they are Pygmy Kingfisher captures its 16 grams, with the female PEAtedly STABBING of the forest and the seldom vocal when perched. On prey using its beak. The prey is being a gram or so light- AT THE SAME SPOT birds mate repeatedly occasion pairs will indulge in killed while still being held in the Ter. The birds have a wingspan of for a few days. close aerial pursuit of one anoth- beak, by the bird either apply- about 55 millimetres, and are 12 WITH HIS BEAK er, apparently playfully, flying in ing pressure or beating the prey to 13 centimetres in length. It is previous spread wide arcs. against a solid object, usually the difficult to distinguish between careful observer could separate During the court- Although Pygmy Kingfishers branch or perch on which it is sit- the sexes as their plumages ap- the sexes on eye shape: the male’s ing process the male are terrestrial hunters and do ting. The food item is then swal- pear identical, but being able to eyes are rounder and more pro- attempts to woo the not dive into open water to ob- lowed head first. differentiate between them on ap- truding than the slightly more female by presenting tain their food, they do plunge These kingfishers are master- pearance occupied my mind for oval ones of the female. It does her with an assort- in to bathe. They are perch hunt- ful flyers, a point well illustrated some time. Finally, after scruti- however take concentrated obser- kinds of prey items to her. He calls have observed a nest that was Excavating the nest ment of prey items. ers, identifying a wide variety of by the fact that when the bird is nising the numerous photographs vation to detect the difference and (the same as the in-flight call) to utilised during consecutive sea- tunnel is a labour- vertebrates (for example, lizards, flying with its prey (sometimes that I took looking for pointers it remains up to the scientists to the female after a successful hunt sons (2012–13 and 2013–14). The intensive undertaking. geckos and frogs) and inverte- nearly the same weight), the prey to tell them apart, I noticed dis- confirm whether my conclusion before offering the food token to species digs its nest in a sandy Once the male has brates (such as spiders, crickets, is grasped in the tip of its beak. tinct differences in the shape of is in fact correct. her. Once the female has been soil embankment. From a posi- made the initial hole moths, praying mantids, dragon- This must have a severe influence their eyes. I was initially sceptical In our region, the male begins swayed, mating takes place in the tion on the ground the male be- in the embankment, flies, worms and cockroaches) on on the bird’s equilibrium during about this as it could have been courting the female during the thick vegetation of the forest and gins the process by flying into carrying the loosened the ground before targeting them flight. The kingfishers always fly an observation based on just two first half of October. Food plays coupling continues repeatedly for a chosen embankment at full sand away in his bill, for capture. They also take small in a direct line between two points individuals. It was while study- an important part in the process a few days. speed, repeatedly stabbing at the the female joins in to crabs, frogs and tadpoles at or and never higher than a couple of ing the mating photographs that and the male attempts to woo her The kingfishers usually exca- same spot with his beak. Every deepen the nest hole. near the water’s edge. metres above the ground. I became more confident that a by catching and presenting all vate a new nest each year, but I time he hits the embankment > 30 AFRICAN BIRDLIFE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 AFRICAN PYGMY KINGFISHER 31 the male takes a bit of soil in his two hours or so, freeing the off- presenting the prey also changes beak and then discards it on his duty partner to hunt. as the chicks develop. As the way back down to the ground. They usually breed once during time approaches for the chicks to He continues doing this until a the season, from late October to fledge, the parents no longer kill small indentation is made in the December. However, during the the prey before delivering it, but embankment. At this stage the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons I take it alive into the nest, clearly female begins to help deepen the observed that some of the pairs preparing them for the time when hole and they work together until that nest here bred twice, with the they will be fending for them- they have created a foothold. The second clutch being laid during selves. One can only imagine the pair then starts chiselling a tun- January. The northward migra- ‘killing frenzy’ that must ensue in nel into the embankment, kicking tion at the end of summer must pitch darkness at the back of the out the loosened soil with their be particularly hazardous for nest when the parent delivers a feet. Cavity excavation may take those chicks that are raised dur- small live frog! a day or longer, depending on ing the second half of the breed- Analysis of the prey items fed to the soil conditions. At the begin- ing season as they undertake this large chicks in the nest shows that ning of the season they may ex- journey during March, not long in the coastal forest of KwaZulu- cavate more than one nest tunnel after they have fledged. Natal a significant percentage con- and only later occupy the one in The young are fed for about sisted of frogs and large tadpoles. which they choose to breed. three weeks before they fledge. A review of photographs taken The tunnels are 40 to 60 cen- The parents never fly directly to during this period reveals that timetres long, ending in a small the nest with prey, but always first 62 per cent of the prey comprised chamber where the female lays land on a perch nearby, where amphibians, most of which were The immature king- and incubates her eggs and raises they scan the surroundings to tadpoles of the Natal tree frog. fisher’s bill gradually the young. A clutch consists of ascertain if it is safe to enter the These tadpoles had already de- changes colour from three to six white eggs and in- nest. The chicks are provided veloped limbs, but their tails were black to bright orange- cubation lasts 16 to 18 days.