The Sula dwarf kingfisher, is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Sula Islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher.
Region
Maluku Islands (Wallacea)
Typical Environment
Occurs in subtropical and tropical moist lowland forests of the Sula Islands, favoring dense primary and mature secondary forest. It keeps to shaded understory, ravines, and edges of small streams but is not strictly tied to water. Birds often perch quietly a meter or two above the ground, making short, direct sallies to take prey. It can persist in selectively logged forest if understory cover remains.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This tiny forest kingfisher hunts mostly away from open water, sallying from low perches to snatch prey from leaves and the forest floor. It is often detected as a quick flash of orange and blue in dense understory. Pairs are territorial and excavate nest burrows in earthen banks or rotting wood. Ongoing forest loss on the Sula Islands may affect its populations.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually encountered alone or in pairs within well-defined territories. Courtship includes soft calls and perch-chasing through the understory. Nests are tunnelled into earthen banks, stream cuttings, or decayed wood, where both sexes participate in excavation and incubation.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives thin, high-pitched whistles and short piping notes, often delivered from concealed perches. Calls may be repeated in quick series during territorial or pair contact.
Plumage
Compact, bright rufous-orange head and underparts with a glossy violet-blue to cobalt mantle and wing panel; throat whitish. Feathers appear smooth and sleek, with iridescent blue spangles on the upperparts. Tail short; overall appearance vivid and cleanly marked.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and ants, as well as spiders and small arthropods. Occasionally takes small lizards or other tiny vertebrates. Prey is typically gleaned or snatched in short sallies from low perches.
Preferred Environment
Forages in shaded understory of primary and older secondary forest, along small streams, gullies, and dense thickets. Often hunts from perches 0.5–2 m above ground, including saplings and low branches near clearings.
