The giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima) is the largest kingfisherinAfrica, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, other than the arid southwest.
The giant kingfisher is 42–46 cm (16.5–18 in) long, with a large shaggy crest, a large black bill and fine white spots on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring. The female has a white-spotted black breast band and a chestnut belly.[5] The forest race M. m. gigantea is darker, less spotted above, and more barred below than the nominate race, but the two forms intergrade along the forest edge zone.[5]
In South Africa breeding takes place between September and January, in Zimbabwe from August to March, in Zambia March to April and in Liberia December to January.[5]
The giant kingfisher is monogamous and a solitary breeder. The nest is a long horizontal tunnel that is excavated into a river bank by both sexes using their feet and bills. The entrance hole is 11 cm (4.3 in) high and 15 cm (5.9 in) wide. The tunnel is typically 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length but a tunnel of 8.5 m (28 ft) has been recorded. A clutch of around three eggs is laid in a chamber at the end of the tunnel.[5]
^Kaup, Johann Jakob (1848). "Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae)". Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung (in German). 2: 68. OCLC183221382.
^ abcdeFry, C. Hilary; Fry, Kathie; Harris, Alan (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 231–232. ISBN978-0-7136-8028-7.
