Alcedo quadribrachys
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The shining-blue kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys) is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is found in tropical Africa. The shining-blue kingfisher was described of by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850 and given its current binomial name Alcedo quadribrachys. The name Alcedo is the Latin word for a "kingfisher". The specific epithet quadribrachys is from the Latin quadri- for "four" and brachium meaning "arms" or in this case "toes".
The shining-blue kingfisher is one of eight species in the genus Alcedo and is most closely related to the half-collared kingfisher (Alcedo semitorquata). There are two subspecies:
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Odzala-Kokoua National Park | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 3 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 5 | Mole National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 6 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Shining-blue Kingfisher sighting in Mole National Park on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 221st most-seen of the 266 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.
April and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Shining-blue Kingfisher in Mole National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–June, August and October–March, the lowest months. Those are among Mole National Park's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain a month against almost none in January. July has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Shining-blue Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Shining-blue Kingfisher sightings, Mole National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 30%), Odzala-Kokoua National Park (Republic of the Congo, about 20%) and Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same family: Alcedinidae
The closest relatives of the Shining-blue Kingfisher that you can see in Mole National Park (family Alcedinidae, Kingfishers) are Gray-headed Kingfisher (about 50%), Blue-breasted Kingfisher (about 40%) and Malachite Kingfisher (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Shining-blue Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Mole National Park (13 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.
