Indigo-banded Kingfisher - Ceyx cyanopectus

Villa Escudero in Tiaong, Quezon province is one of the places where sightings of this uncommon Philippine endemic is almost guaranteed. Lately, however, a very confiding couple has been seen regularly at the La Mesa Ecopark in Quezon City. Both male and female were so oblivious of its "audience" that birders and bird photographers had a heyday taking pictures of both.

Indigo-banded Kingfishers are small (about 5-1/2 inches) brightly colored birds that inhabits forest streams and ponds where they hunt for tiny fish and insects. Their distinguishing marks are blue bands across their breasts, two for the male (and forming a heart shaped rufous center) and one for the female. They are found in Luzon and Mindoro and another subspecies in Negros, Panay and Cebu.

Indigo-banded Kingfisher - Ceyx cyanopectus - Male
La Mesa Ecopark,  October 15, 2013

Canon 5D Mk III, 500mm+1.4X, half gimbal on tripod
ISO-800, f5.6, 1/30

Indigo-banded Kingfisher - Ceyx cyanopectus - Female
La Mesa Ecopark, October 26, 2013

Canon 5D Mk III, 500mm+1.4X, half gimbal on tripod
ISO-3200, f5.6, 1/50