Alcedo meninting
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The blue-eared kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) is found in Asia, ranging across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is found mainly in dense shaded forests where it hunts in small streams. It is darker crowned, with darker rufous underparts and lacking the rufous ear stripe of the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) which is found in more open habitats. A number of subspecies have been described that differ in measurement and colour shade. Adult males have an all dark bill while females have a reddish lower mandible.
The blue-eared kingfisher was described by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821 and given its current binomial name Alcedo meninting. The name Alcedo is the Latin word for a "kingfisher". The specific epithet meninting is the Javanese word for the species. The blue-eared kingfisher is one of seven species in the genus Alcedo and is most closely related to Blyth's kingfisher (Alcedo hercules).
Several plumage variations in the population that occur across its wide distribution range have been recognized as subspecies: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Tanjung Puting National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 7 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 8 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 9 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 11 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 12 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 13 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 14 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 15 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Denpasar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 7 | Phnom Penh | 🇰🇭 Cambodia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-eared Kingfisher sighting in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 114th most-seen of the 166 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, June–July and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-eared Kingfisher in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, April–May and August–November, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-eared Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
8th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Blue-eared Kingfisher sightings, Gunung Leuser National Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (Malaysia, about 70%), Tanjung Puting National Park (Indonesia, about 60%) and Sepilok (Malaysia, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-eared Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Gunung Leuser National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
