Also referred to as Ispidina picta, the African Pygmy Kingfisher is a small insectivorous Kingfisher thriving in the Afro tropics and woodland habitats including Uganda where it is explored on birding safaris in Uganda.

The African pygmy Kingfisher stretches to 12cm in length and has no sexual differences.             It is generally small with blue back that extend to the tail and rufous under parts. The Adults feature a dark blue crown that differentiates them from the African dwarf Kingfisher while the small size along with the violet wash on its ear coverts differentiates it from the malachite Kingfisher. This is always explored while on Uganda birding safaris and tours.

Regarding general distribution, the African pygmy Kingfisher is spread greatly in the Sub-Saharan Africa though absent in the horn of Africa and South Africa’s drier western region. It thrives mainly in woodland ecosystem.  The Uganda Safari parks with woodland ecosystem such as Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda and Lake Mburo National Park along with forest edges are known habitats for this bird species.

The African pygmy Kingfisher nests in burrows which are dug in the sandy soil or in a ground termite nest by both sexes and these extend from 30 – 60cm in length. It lays a clutch of 4 – 6 white eggs and parenting is done by both parties as at times viewed by travelers on birding safari in Uganda.

The diet of an African Pygmy Kingfisher comprises of insects like praying mantis, grasshoppers, crickets, worms, moths and cockroaches.  They also consume spiders.

About their conservation status, the African Pygmy Kingfisher is listed as species of least concern on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).