Stork-billed kingfisher
The stork-billed kingfisher ("Pelargopsis capensis"), is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range. It is a very large kingfisher, measuring in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and olive-brown head. Its underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the stork-billed kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct. Sexes are similar. There are 13 races or subspecies, differing mostly  in plumage detail, but "P. c. gigantea" of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines has a white head, neck and underparts. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a low and far reaching "peer-por-por" repeated about every 5 seconds, as well cackling "ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke". The stork-billed kingfisher lives in a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers, or coasts. It perches quietly whilst seeking food, and is often inconspicuous despite its size. It is territorial and will chase away eagles and other large predators. This species hunts fish, frogs, crabs, rodents and  young birds. Adults dig their nests in river banks, decaying trees, or tree termite nests. A clutch of two to five round white eggs is typical. Taxonomy. The first formal description of the stork-billed kingfisher was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his "Systema Naturae". He coined the binomial name "Alcedo capensis". Linnaeus based his description on Mathurin Jacques Brisson's "Le martin-pescheur du Cap de Bonne Espérance". Brisson believed his specimen had come from the Cape of Good Hope region of South Africa. The species does not occur in Africa  and it was suggested that the specimen had been obtained on the Indonesian island of Java. The specimen is now known to have come from near Chandannagar in West Bengal, India. Linnaeus's specific epithet "capensis" denotes the Cape of Good Hope. The current genus "Pelargopsis" was introduced by the German zoologist Constantin Gloger in 1841. Thirteen subspecies are recognised: The insular forms "nesoeca" on the Nias and Batu Islands as well as "isoptera" on Mentawai Island are here subsumed within "sodalis". Prior to the change of type locality to Chandannagar, the birds in India were placed in the subspecies  gurial but this race is now synonymized with the nominate race "capensis".