#Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca)

(Photo by Saswat Mishra)

Conservation Status- Least Concern

Habitat- Southeastern Asia; India

Size (Weight/Length)- 20 g; 14 cm

Diet- Insects; Small amphibians; Small reptiles; Fish

Cool Facts- The oriental dwarf kingfisher is one of the smallest species of kingfisher. They are also one of the few birds to only have three toes. Surprisingly, this bird lacks sexual dimorphism so both males and females sport their brilliant plumage. Oriental dwarf kingfishers mate for life and dig burrows in stream banks as their nest. The tunnels are carefully dug so the eggs sit on a flat surface but the entrance of the nest is lower, allowing for water to drain in case it rains. Both mom and dad raise their chicks, until the chick fledges after less than a month. As oriental dwarf kingfishers are not waterproof, they dart down to the surface of the water and spear small fish and amphibians with their sharp beak.

Rating- 13/10 (Contrasting colors are the best colors and nature agrees.)

[pangeen]

" Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher " //© Shantanu Somwanshi

Music: Unknown Artist

[navyinks]

dynamic sketching week 7 - bird club

[birdblues]

Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher

[proton-wobbler]

Battle Royale

Pool Party! (E-5)

These birds are loosely grouped by their associations with water, and because I didn't want the family BR to get too big. Keep your eyes peeled- there may be someone here who got a little lost, but we don't discriminate here!

[yotarosuite]

"Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher"

-ミツユビカワセミ-

Fujifilm X-T5 / Tamron 150-500mm f5-6.7

photo by yotarosuite

[silvascribble]

I’ve been doing #Flocktober

Here are some highlights!

[ahthedoodle]

[far-side-skies]

Storm Hawks OC Challenge - February 2023

Hey there folks! Welcome to February's bird OC challenge! I hope the first month of the year treated everyone well, and that you're all ready for a very colourful birb to work with.

I give you all the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca)!

I want to thank @rainymeadows for suggesting this one a while back in the Storm Hawks server.

Found mostly in South-East Asia and the Indian subcontinent, these birds are most common in deciduous and evergreen forest habitats, along with alluvial forests and mangroves (other habitats can be found on the wikipedia page). Despite being called kingfishers, they aren't primarily piscivores, and are usually found eating insects such as mantises and beetles, likely due to their size, as they can weigh an average of nine grams.

The deadline for this month is Sunday the 26th of February, 8pm GMT. As always, rules and extra images, including an optional colour palette are below the cut.

Minimum requirements for drawn entries to be put in the winner's vote are a name, occupation, the character's home/birth Terra and at least one paragraph (or about 100 words) of written backstory.

Minimum requirements for written (i.e. written dossiers without art, or mini-fics for the character) are 500 words including backstory and appearance. Feel free to make a mini-fic out of this challenge, I'll make sure to link it with the final collage as well.

Entrants who are part of the Storm Hawks discord server will have the chance of getting a custom role for the next month! If you’re not part of the discord server, please ask for an invite if you’re interested.

You're not expected to create a character from scratch for this challenge. If you've got an older character concept that's been collecting dust or that you'd like to take the opportunity to revamp, feel free! The goal of this challenge is to inspire people.

Collaborations are allowed! Same rules apply, the only addition is that you and your partner(s) just need to make note of who was responsible for what part of the character

Make sure to tag me in your entries and also DM me with a link to your entry. Tumblr is not always reliable about notifications for this sort of thing, and I don't want to risk missing anyone's entries, so better safe than sorry.

The group collage of entries, and the winner's vote are opt-in. Participation of those parts of this challenge are not mandatory.

The winner of the vote will receive a free sketch piece of their character from me.

[famoushindi]

10 Most Colourful Birds on Earth

Around 10,000 different kinds of gorgeous birds ( Most Colourful Birds on Earth) can be found throughout the world. Each one is distinctive and special in its own right, and each has a particular effect on the ecosystem. While this may be the case, it is also true that brilliant, colourful birds with amazing plumage in a variety of colours have a distinct charm. To evade predators, animals…

[far-side-skies]

Aaaaaaa this is so cool! I LOVE the hat!

fun little entry for @far-side-skies' bird oc challenge this month!

Anther Talon is renown amongst the ranks as one of the first and most successful Cyclonian assassins. Trained and a friend of Scimitar, he was given the codename "Kingfisher" to compliment the efficient manner in which he'd neutralise targets.

To the Atmosians, he does not exist, much in thanks to his distant methods of carrying out missions. With a success rate rivalling even Scimitar's, he is held in high regard by the Elites as a model worker and key agent in winning the war the dirty way.

Apparently, there's a rumour that he's on close terms with even Elite-General Snipe...but what would such an aloof agent of Scimitar be doing with someone as boisterous as him?

bonus art:

someone put aptornis out of her misery.

[birdblues]

Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher

[proton-wobbler]

Battle Royale: Finale

Pool Party! (E-6)

Okay okay, so technically Platypus won its bracket, but in keeping things fair I'm putting the runner up, who is an actual bird. Don't worry- platypus will get its own little spotlight post. They're delightfully strange!

[nmotypdfsfg]

[far-side-skies]

💜💜THEM!!💜💜

This bab was so much fun to work on with you Grimm!

I hope you guys love them as much as we loved making them!

This months a collab character for @far-side-skies oc challenge with @far-side-skies

Their name is Jewel and they are very rare hybrid of Nightcrawler and Dawnrunner. The two species are natural enemies and despise one another despite many similarities between them.

Jewel was born (hatched) in a traveling circus and has no home terrar.

Their father, Romeo, is a Dawnrunner and has raised them on his own with the help of their cirus.

Their mother, Juliet, is a Nightcrawler, or in far-side-skies' lore a night elf queen.

No we were not subtle with the names.

Jewel is the main trapeze performer with their father being a strong man and knife thrower.

They love preforming and their giant weird family.

Check out far-side post for more info and an awesome mini fic!

[far-side-skies]

And we are finally up and running! Here's the lineup for February's bird OC entries for the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher! These all look so great! I love how everyone's used the colours for this one!

Vote for a favourite here: https://strawpoll.com/polls/6QnMOQXX7Ze

Dalia and Rowan, the Vapos cherubs by @irisarchborn

Jewel (aka Circus Kid), the dawnrunner-nightcrawler hybrid by myself and @grimm-the-6th

Roxanne King, the flashy detective by @rainymeadows-art

Anther Talon, the Cyclonian sniper by @bloo-per

Cedric Fisher, the Talon explosives expert by @happypanda101

Thank you to everyone who took part this month. Stay tuned for the next bird which will come out sometime soon!

Hint: You'll find it somewhere here on my blog already.