Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Halcyon albiventris

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Johannesburg

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

206 Verified sightings at Johannesburg
8,194 In all 27 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Brown-hooded Kingfisher

The brown-hooded kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a brown head and blackish and turquoise wings. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, living in woodland, scrubland, forest edges, and also suburban areas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being of least concern.

This species was described as Alcedo albiventris by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1786. Subspecies hylophila and erlangeri have also been described, but they are not considered distinct enough. The brown-hooded kingfisher is about 22 cm (8.7 in) long. The head is brown, with blackish streaks. There is a broad buffy collar above the brownish-black mantle. The wing coverts are mostly brownish-black, and the secondary flight feathers are turquoise. The rump is azure-blue. The chin is white, the breast is tawny with some dark streaks, and the belly is buffy. The beak is red, tipped brown, the legs are carmine, and the eyes are dark brown. The female has dark... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:41

South Africa · 2026

© Marna Buys · XC1103069 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:26

Zambia · 2023

© Marc Anderson · XC891114 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:56

South Africa · 2025

© Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk · XC1047510 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%
2 Gonarezhou National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~50%
3 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~50%
4 Lower Zambezi National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~50%
5 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%
6 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~50%
7 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
8 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~40%
9 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
10 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~40%
11 Gorongosa National Park 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~30%
12 Pilanesberg National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~30%
13 Selous Game Reserve 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
14 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
15 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
16 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
17 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
~20%
18 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
19 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
20 Hwange National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~10%
21 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
22 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
23 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
24 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
25 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
<5%
26 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
27 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Durban 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%
2 Mombasa 🇰🇪 Kenya
~40%
3 Maputo 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~30%
4 Dar es-Salaam 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
5 Pretoria 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
6 Harare 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~10%
7 Johannesburg 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Berlin Zoological Garden 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
2 Aquarium Berlin 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Brown-hooded Kingfisher in Johannesburg?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-hooded Kingfisher sighting in Johannesburg on a given day, based on 206 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 81st most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Brown-hooded Kingfisher in Johannesburg?

January–May and August–September

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-hooded Kingfisher in Johannesburg on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and October–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Brown-hooded Kingfisher?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-hooded Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Johannesburg the best place to see a Brown-hooded Kingfisher?

7th of 7

Of the 7 cities where we can rate Brown-hooded Kingfisher sightings, Johannesburg ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Durban (South Africa, about 50%), Mombasa (Kenya, about 40%) and Maputo (Mozambique, about 30%).

Where does the Brown-hooded Kingfisher sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Brown-hooded Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Johannesburg (206 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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