Giant Kingfisher

Giant Kingfisher: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Though the Giant Kingfisher has a range that covers pretty much all of sub-Sahara Africa, I saw my first one on the Nile River in Murchison Falls National Park from the tour boat to the base of the Falls. It is not an uncommon bid, but evidently there are never large numbers, they are very local and maintain a relatively small territory, and the pairs move around a lot, relocating their territory regularly. This is a male. The female has the rufous band lower on the belly and the streaking on the throat and upper chest. The Giant makes the 9th of the 11 possible Kingfishers of Uganda, and 15 of East Africa, that I have seen. The Giant, the Dwarf, and the Blue-breasted were new for me on this trip. 🙂 Always happy to see a new Kingfisher! Sony Rx10iv at ~550mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. The shot with green background was at ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th. The other one was at ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th, plus 1.7EV to capture detail against the backlight.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *