Grey-headed Kingfisher - Tanzania - Favorites #7

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This photo, one of my favorites, was taken during a photography workshop (Feb. 14-23, 2011) in Tanzania led by Ray Barlow in collaboration with Naseeb Mfinanga (deceased) and Nickson Kassim of Maasai Wanderings.

http://www.raymondbarlow.com/

http://www.maasaiwanderings.com/index.shtm

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) - Tanzania - Feb. 2011

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) - Tanzania - Feb. 2011

D300s, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x teleconverter
1/640 sec at f/7.1, ISO 500

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) - Tanzania - Feb. 2011

This is a kingfisher that does not feed on fish. Instead it sits on a perch and dives down to the ground to catch insects and, sometimes, small vertebrates. 

https://www.arkive.org/grey-headed-kingfisher/halcyon-leucocephala/

The range map of the Grey-headed Kingfisher

Click on image for a larger view

 

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.