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First Confirmed White-throated Kingfisher in Libya Extended Documented Occurrence Westward

Two white-throated kingfishers perched on a branch
Conservation · Population & status

Libya’s first confirmed white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) has been documented in a paper published in April 2026. The bird was observed in the Wadi Annagha Protected Area near Derna, in northeastern Libya, during the last week of January 2025.

It sat alone on an electric wire beside open habitat near freshwater for several minutes before flying away. Photographs confirmed its identity. No calls were heard.

The authors describe the record as a westward extension of the species’ documented occurrence in North Africa. They suggest that its presence could reflect vagrancy or range expansion, possibly through dispersal along the eastern Mediterranean corridor. The finding brings Libya’s recorded kingfishers to three species.

Sources and image credit

  1. Buirzayqah, S. A., Hashem, R. S., & Etayeb, K. S. (2026). First record of White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis, Linnaeus, 1758) in Libya. Libyan Journal of Ecological & Environmental Sciences and Technology, 8(1), 8–10.

Image: Mildeep / Wikimedia Commons. Two white-throated kingfishers, 30 July 2019. Representative species photograph; not the bird observed in Libya. Cropped. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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