Lacedo pulchella
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The banded kingfisher (Lacedo pulchella) is a tree kingfisher found in lowland tropical forests of southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus Lacedo. Male and female adults are very different in plumage. The male has a bright blue crown with black and blue banding on the back. The female has rufous and black banding on the head and upperparts.
The first formal description of the species was by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821 under the binomial name Dacelo pulchella. The current genus Lacedo was introduced by the German ornithologist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1851. The word Lacedo is an anagram of Alcedo, the Latin word for kingfisher. The specific name pulchella is Latin for "very pretty".
There are three subspecies: L. p. pulchella, the nominate race, breeds in Malaysia south of 7°N and on the islands of Sumatra and Java. It is slightly larger than the nominate form. The male has a blue nape, and the female is more rufous than pulchella.
The male has a black forehead, cheeks and nape. The banded kingfisher is 20 cm (7.9 in) long... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 4 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 6 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 7 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 8 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 9 | Kerinci Seblat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 11 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 12 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Kingfisher sighting in Sepilok on a given day, based on 76 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 151st most-seen of the 242 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 and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Kingfisher in Sepilok on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and April–November, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Banded Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
10th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Banded Kingfisher sightings, Sepilok ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Way Kambas National Park (Indonesia, about 30%), Khao Luang National Park (Thailand, about 20%) and Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 20%).
Same family: Alcedinidae
The closest relatives of the Banded Kingfisher that you can see in Sepilok (family Alcedinidae, Kingfishers) are Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher (about 40%), Blue-eared Kingfisher (about 30%) and Stork-billed Kingfisher (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Banded Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Sepilok (76 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.
