Species fact sheet by Global Register of Migratory Species - www.groms.de

Use the GROMS database for dynamic search for migratory species, new links and references.

Populations in Cape Verde Islands are resident, and so perhaps are some in equatorial Africa. In Arabia the Grey-headed Kingfisher is a breeding summer visitor in about April-November, and it is a well-defined migrant at higher latitudes in Africa. Its movements in West Africa are probably representative. There its breeding range is from derived savannas near the coastal forests (nesting in January and February, the dry-season) north to the desert-edge Sahel zone (nesting in July and August, the wet season, north to 15 N in Mali and 15,5 N in Chad). In derived savannas it is exclusively a dry-season visitor and it migrates north for the wet season, whereas in Sahel savannas it is exclusively a wet-season visitor, moving south for the dry season; whether pairs nest twice a year, in January in the south and July in the north, is unknown. Individuals breeding in middle latitudes have an unusual three-stage migration: they nest about March-June and then evidently move to the far north, where they moult in the rainy season, then migrate to the far south for the dry season, and finally return a short distance back north to their breeding latitudes (Nigeria: Skinner 1968, Elgood et al. 1973). Greyheaded Kingfishers visit Zimbabwe from early September to early May and Natal in August-April.   (Fry CH, Fry K, Harris A, 1992)

• digitised by GROMS, after del Hoyo J A Elliott; J Sargatal (eds) (2001) - www.hbw.com,
• Copyright: GROMS/BfN - www.groms.de
  
  (A digitised version of this map is published in GIS shape format on the GROMS CD).