I've got the "snakes and other reptiles of Thailand" book, but not one on birds. Can anyone identify it? I found it on my balcony this morning, probably hit the black glass windows. It recovered after about 6 hours, and flew off.

That's a black-backed kingfisher. Very small with stunning colors.

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Check out his site Eric, I've been using it to identify the birds around my place recently.

http://www.pbase.com/peterericsson/birds_of_thailand

Thanks folks.

what a nice little bird, strange tail he has which looks almost not right?

No, the Kingfishers have a very short tail

I think Darwin would have said, evolution has made the tail short, to prevent drag diving into and coming out of the water...

He certainly a cute little thing... small fish watch out!!.... the only King Fisher I've seen around is the lovely bright blue one, much larger of course.

I think Darwin would have said, evolution has made the tail short, to prevent drag diving into and coming out of the water...

He certainly a cute little thing... small fish watch out!!.... the only King Fisher I've seen around is the lovely bright blue one, much larger of course.

That one might be an Indian Roller Jimmy. Looks very much like a kingfisher - but isn't. Fooled me for a while. We have loads around here in Plai Laem.

http://www.flickr.co...N04/2529844505/

Pretty sure mitmig is correct. Do an images search on Google for "black backed kingfisher". Its a dead ringer for Eric1949's lovely visitor.

Cheers.

No, the Kingfishers have a very short tail

How much shorter could that tail be?!

No, the Kingfishers have a very short tail

...& very large beaks! The White throated Kingfishers that used to* frequent the swamp around Wat Blai Laem looked almost as daft as a snow plough would if mounted on a mini:)

(*I saw idiots catapulting/netting them if they stayed too long. The swamp has since been drained)

I think Darwin would have said, evolution has made the tail short, to prevent drag diving into and coming out of the water...

He certainly a cute little thing... small fish watch out!!.... the only King Fisher I've seen around is the lovely bright blue one, much larger of course.

That one might be an Indian Roller Jimmy. Looks very much like a kingfisher - but isn't. Fooled me for a while. We have loads around here in Plai Laem.

http://www.flickr.co...N04/2529844505/

Thanks Tropo, that link has a lot of pictures of Thailand birds

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=black+backed+kingfisher&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=V6-IUPrJBq2higfPi4CICg&sqi=2&ved=0CCMQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=775

Cheers.

I like the birds out here Bangkok birds are a bit more classy like to watch then on the sky train

Sometime I do not even go anywhere just sit on the train watching the birds