The blue-eared kingfisher is found in Asia, ranging across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is found mainly in dense shaded forests where it hunts in small streams. It is darker crowned, with darker rufous underparts and lacking the rufous ear stripe of the common kingfisher which is found in more open habitats. A number of subspecies have been described that differ in measurement and colour shade. Adult males have an all dark bill while females have a reddish lower mandible.
Region
South and Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from parts of the Indian subcontinent through Myanmar and Thailand into Peninsular Malaysia and the Greater Sunda Islands, including Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. It inhabits primary and well-shaded secondary lowland forests, typically along clear, slow to moderate-flowing streams, creeks, and forested rivers. Birds keep close to overhanging vegetation and shaded pools, often within dense riparian cover. It avoids open waterbodies and disturbed, sunlit channels, making it patchy where forests have been cleared.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This small kingfisher favors dark, shaded forest streams where its cobalt upperparts and blue ear-coverts blend with dappled light. It differs from the common kingfisher by its darker crown, richer rufous underparts, and lack of a rufous ear stripe. Males have an all-dark bill, while females show a reddish lower mandible. It is sensitive to forest and stream degradation, disappearing quickly where clearwater creeks are disturbed.
Blue-eared kingfisher (Male) from Guwahati, Assam
Shaded forest streams are the usual habitat. A. m. phillipsi
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
fast, direct flight low over water with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen alone or as pairs defending short stream stretches. Nests in burrows excavated into vertical or sloping stream banks, where both sexes participate in digging and incubation. Clutches typically contain several glossy white eggs, and both parents feed the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives thin, high-pitched seep or tsip calls and sharp whistles, often as it darts along the stream. Vocalizations are brief and infrequent, serving primarily for contact and alarm within dense forest.
Plumage
Glossy cobalt to ultramarine upperparts with brighter electric-blue ear-coverts and rump; underparts deep rufous to orange-rust. Crown and nape darker blue with fine spotting; small whitish throat spot. Upperparts appear velvety in low light; flight feathers darker with blue edging.
Diet
Takes small fish, aquatic insects and their larvae, freshwater shrimps, and occasionally tadpoles. Hunts by sit-and-wait from low shaded perches over clear pools, plunging headfirst to seize prey. Often beats prey against a perch before swallowing head-first. Diet composition varies with stream clarity and seasonal water levels.
Preferred Environment
Feeds along narrow, shaded forest creeks, side channels, and pool margins with overhanging vegetation. Prefers clear, slow to moderate flows with submerged roots and snags that provide perches and cover.
