Green-and-rufous Kingfisher

How to find it

Look along shady streams and canals, because it likes shady spots and sits in dim light under the canopy. Expect a bird in dappled light under cover, not one out in the open. Slow, quiet travel by boat, electric canoe or kayak suits it, with a guide who knows the dense riverside vegetation. Scan perches 2 to 10 m up over the water. Listen for the thin 'week week week' song. Once you find it, it tends to be less shy than other kingfishers, so stay still and let it settle.

How to recognise it

Both sexes share the same basic pattern:

- a green head and back

- white spots on the wings and tail

- mostly rufous underparts

The male has no wide breast band. Females also show a green and white breast band, which is the easiest way to separate the sexes. Juveniles look like females but with heavier spotting on the upperparts.

The feature to hold on to in Costa Rica is the belly. It is rufous right through the underparts, with no white, and the bird is far larger than the American Pygmy Kingfisher, which is only about 13 cm long.

What it sounds like

Recording: Jennifer Rycenga, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It hunts by perching quietly and watching the water, then plunging in. It lives alone. Its perch is usually 2 to 10 m up, higher than the Green Kingfisher and lower than the Ringed Kingfisher, and it strikes the prey on the perch before swallowing it.

It takes small to medium fish, crustaceans and some aquatic insects. It nests in a tunnel dug near a riverbank. It prefers shadowy areas, but once you find it, it is less shy than other kingfishers.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this kingfisher lives on the Caribbean slope, and BirdLife lists it as a resident. It uses lowland moist forest, swamps and mangroves, and rivers and streams are its main habitat. Its altitude range is 0 to 400 m.

A Costa Rican account places it mostly in swampy forest near the coast. Its range runs from southeast Nicaragua through the Caribbean slope and on into Panama and Colombia.

When to see it

It is a resident, so it is present all year. A Costa Rican account says it probably breeds in the rainy season, judging by moult and gonad data, though it gives no months.

Similar birds

The American Pygmy Kingfisher is also rufous on the chest, but it has a contrasting white belly and is only about 13 cm long. The Green Kingfisher has a rufous chest but white underparts and a nuchal collar. The Green-and-rufous is rufous right through the underparts and clearly bigger than the pygmy.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish name is Martín pescador vientrirrufo. In Nicaragua it is called Martín Pescador Bicolor. Other Spanish names include Verdirrufo and Selvático.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R); IUCN rates it Least Concern, though BirdLife suspects the population is decreasing and describes it as uncommon.

Photography tips

This is a hard bird to photograph, because it sits in dim light under the canopy. Expect dappled light and cover rather than an open perch. Because it is less shy than other kingfishers once found, patience and a still boat can pay off.