The amazing Indigo-banded Kingfisher

This little bird is among the most colorful of  the kingfishers found only in the Philippines. At 5.5 inches length, it is also among the smallest.

I got close to this individual at a nature resort in Tiaong, Quezon province, in 2009.  The single breast band indicates this is female (the male has two breast bands).

The bird’s habit of perching in one spot for a few minutes allowed me enough time to manually focus with precision. To make it bigger in the 5D2’s frame I had to shoot at a focal length of 1374 mm (Sigma 300 – 800 DG + 2x TC).  The bird was in low light, so I slowed down my shutter to 1/6 sec for sufficient exposure and I tried to shoot  in between the bird’s head-bobbing movement (see video below).

If I were to choose the most technically challenging shot I ever executed, this is probably the front-runner. The reward of surmounting the difficulties is a 21-MP capture, tack-sharp at the pixel level, that’s printable to really big sizes (24″ x 36″ and beyond).

Indigo-banded Kingfisher (Alcedo cyanopecta , a Philippine endemic, female)

Habitat – Uncommon, restricted to clear fresh water streams up to at least 1500 m.

A short video of the amazing Indigo-banded Kingfisher.

Special thanks to Carmela B. of Villa Escudero for the support during filming.