Kingfisher in length and between in weight. The largest kingfisher in Africa is the giant kingfisher ("Megaceryle maxima"), which is in length and in weight. The familiar Australian kingfisher known as the laughing kookaburra ("Dacelo novaeguineae") is the heaviest species with females reaching nearly in weight. The plumage of most kingfishers is bright, with green and blue being the most common colours. The brightness of the colours is neither the product of iridescence (except in the American kingfishers) or pigments, but is instead caused by the structure of the feathers, which causes scattering of blue light (the Tyndall effect). In most
Moustached kingfisher Moustached kingfisher The moustached kingfisher ("Actenoides bougainvillei"), also called Bougainville moustached kingfisher, is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea. An estimated 250–1,000 mature individuals are left. Their natural habitats are subtropical or tropical, moist, lowland forests and subtropical or tropical, moist, montane forests; they nest in tree holes. They are threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators. The Guadalcanal moustached kingfisher was previously lumped together with "A. bougainvillei", but is now regarded as a separate species. It was first described in 1904, and in the late 1930s, a