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White-throated kingfisher (kilkila)
किलकिला (kilkila)
The white-throated kingfisher is the big turquoise, chestnut and white kingfisher with a coral-red bill that sits on wires and fence posts all over India. It is kilkila in Hindi and the state bird of West Bengal. It does not need water: it hunts lizards, insects and frogs on lawns and fields as readily as fish, so you can meet it year-round in the middle of a town.
A big kingfisher with a chocolate-brown head, a white bib and a heavy coral-red bill. It hunts on dry ground as readily as over water.
👀 How to recognise it
Perched, it is brown and white with a red bill. In flight the back and wings blaze turquoise and a white patch flashes near the wing tip. The call is a loud descending laugh, usually given from a wire.
Where to see it
Mathura
This is the bird on the wires above Vishram Ghat, where the Yamuna front is busiest. It takes lizards, large insects and frogs from the steps and the gardens behind them, not only fish, which is why it thrives in the middle of a working town. It is the most-recorded bird along Mathura's Yamuna front.
Vishram Ghat · Raman Reti, Gokul
Kolkata
The state bird of West Bengal, and one that does not need water: it hunts lizards and insects on lawns and roadside verges across the city.
Rabindra Sarobar · Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary · Eco Park (Prakriti Tirtha)
Mayapur
The state bird of West Bengal, and the most conspicuous bird on the Ganga–Jalangi boat crossing: a flash of turquoise off a bankside post.
Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary · Chupi Char, Purbasthali
How to recognise it
It is a large kingfisher, 27–28 cm long. The head, shoulders, flanks and lower belly are chestnut brown, the throat and breast white, and the back, wings and tail bright blue, more turquoise in some lights. The heavy bill and the legs are bright red. Males and females look alike; young birds are a duller version of the adults.
Sitting, it can look mostly brown and white. The moment it flies, the blue blazes and large white patches show on the wings. Listen too: in the breeding season males call loudly in the early morning from rooftops, posts and wires, a far-carrying descending laugh.
A kingfisher that hunts on dry land
This is a tree kingfisher, and its menu shows it: large crustaceans, insects, earthworms, rodents, lizards, snakes, fish and frogs, and now and then a small bird such as a white-eye or a sparrow. It watches from an exposed perch, drops onto prey and returns. In captivity it has been noted that it rarely drinks.
Breeding starts with the monsoon. The pair dig a tunnel about half a metre long into an earth bank by flying at the mud wall until they have a foothold, then working with their bills. The clutch is four to seven round white eggs.
The range runs from the Sinai across the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia, and it is expanding. In the nineteenth century these birds were hunted for their bright feathers, used on hats; today the species is widespread and not threatened.
Where to see it
It is resident and common in open country with trees and wires, so the question is less where than how to look: scan the wires, lamp posts and fence posts, especially near water or lawns.
Mathura: at Vishram Ghat it is the most-recorded bird on the Yamuna front, perched on the wires and lamp posts along the steps and taking prey from the ghats and the gardens behind them. Around the groves and ponds of Raman Reti in Gokul it uses wires and fence posts. More on the city: Mathura.
Kolkata: lawns and verges across the city, Rabindra Sarobar, Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary and Eco Park.
Mayapur: the most conspicuous bird on the Ganga–Jalangi boat crossing, a flash of turquoise off a bankside post; also Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary and Chupi Char at Purbasthali.
Names and status
Across India the bird has a name in nearly every language: kilkila in Hindi, ram chiriya around Mathura, sandabuk machhranga in Bengali, khundya in Marathi, ponman in Malayalam, minchulli in Kannada. In West Bengal it is the state bird.
The IUCN lists it as Least Concern. In India it is in Schedule II of the Wild Life (Protection) Act as amended in 2022, so hunting or trapping one is an offence.
❓ FAQ
What is the state bird of West Bengal?
The white-throated kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis. It is common on lawns, verges and wires across Kolkata.
What is the white-throated kingfisher called in Hindi?
Kilkila (किलकिला). Around Mathura it is also called ram chiriya.
Why do I see kingfishers far from water in India?
The white-throated kingfisher hunts lizards, insects, rodents and frogs on dry ground as well as fish, so it lives on lawns, fields and in towns.
What does the white-throated kingfisher eat?
Crustaceans, insects, earthworms, rodents, lizards, snakes, fish, frogs and occasionally small birds.
Is the white-throated kingfisher endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern and its range is expanding. In India it is protected under Schedule II of the Wild Life (Protection) Act.