Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher Actenoides bougainvillei
Endangered
Location: Papua New Guinea, Australia
The Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher is a rare and vividly coloured bird likely to be restricted to living in the interior of montane old-growth forest, with a recent record from 800 m (Dutson 2011), although calls thought to belong to the species have been reported from lowland swamp-forest (Bishop 1987). Very little is known about this spectacularly coloured species. There is a report of nesting in an arboreal termitarium (Mayr 1945, K. D. Bishop in litt. 1983, del Hoyo et al. 2001). Local people around Panguna report the species above 1100 m and have shown one recently-killed bird to visiting birdwatchers but there are no other data on their ecology (P. Gregory pers. Comm. 2016). This spectacular species is judged to be Endangered on the basis of a very small estimated population which is suspected to be declining. However, further research may reveal them to be more common and not declining.
The Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher is potentially threatened by introduced rats and cats which are common even at high altitudes (Leary 1991).
Currently, the species’ montane forest habitat is above the altitude usually affected by logging or clearance for subsistence gardens.
IUCN Red List
The cheeky colourful Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher lives in #PapuaNewGuinea and #WestPapua #rainforest, endangered on @IUCNredlist by #palmoil #deforestation. Boycott the brands destroying their home #Boycott4Wildlife
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Further Information
BirdLife International. 2016. Actenoides bougainvillei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22726874A94934210. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22726874A94934210.en. Downloaded on 31 January 2021.
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