Azure Kingfisher courtship behavious

in recent months we have been witnessing what we believe is previously unrecorded/unpublished courtship behaviour by our resident Azure Kingfishers here at the Daintree River.

as well as the usual wing spreading and wing shivering undertaken by the presumed male, we are seeing that it postures in such a way so that the buffy-white neck blaze is totally obscured by surrounding blue plumage. we have extensive video footage of this.

has anyone else seen this behaviour before in this species, or with Common or other closely related Kingfisher species overseas??

I wonder if our Little Kingfishers do something similar…???

I look forward to any comments on this.

thanks in advance,

martin cachard,

solar whisper wildlife cruises, Daintree River.

& Trinity Beach