The White Collared Kingfisher - Todiramphus chloris kalbaensis – is a small kingfisher with a population of 55 pairs or less. These are almost entirely restricted to Khor Kalba in the UAE and two small sites in Oman. They live in the mangrove forests at these three sites. If the mangroves vanish so does this beautiful kingfisher which is considered an essential part of the UAE's natural heritage.

Description

A small kingfisher, with blue/green upperparts, a white collar around the neck. The bill is black with a pale yellow base to the lower mandible. Females tend to be greener than the males. Immature birds are duller than the adults with dark scaly markings on the neck and breast.

Call

The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.

Food

Small crabs are the favored food in coastal regions but a wide variety of other animals are eaten including insects, shrimps, fish, worms, snails and frogs. The bird perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it dives down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are smashed against the branch to subdue them. Any indigestible remains are regurgitated.

Breeding

The birds nest between February and June, using holes and cracks in aged mangroves to build their nests, either a natural tree hole or a hole excavated by the birds themselves in an old tree. Two to five rounded whitish eggs are laid. Both parents take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The young birds leave the nest about 44 days after hatching.

Conservation Status – Endangered

That first survey in 1995 was carried out by the late Simon Aspinall, an environmentalist and bird specialist who estimated between 44 and 55 breeding pairs lived in the Kalba mangroves. This spring, a survey of the area carried out by Oscar Campbell, Ahmed Al Ali and Neil Tovey estimated the number of pairs was between 26 and 35. The reason the numbers of collared kingfishers are declining is that the condition of the mangrove trees supporting it is also declining. Development and the construction of the Corniche have been harming the forest. Some mangroves were destroyed to make room for villas and a new road. These birds need high-quality mangroves. In the last 20 years, the area of mangrove has decreased by up to 30 per cent due to development and now covers an area of about 6 square kilometers.

Bird watching

These beautiful Kingfishers can be seen the coastal mangrove forest of Kalba, an enclave in Sharjah, UAE.