In Variata National Park, we encountered Forest kingfishers for the first and only time. This pair sat in the same direction for a long time, but after a while one turned around so that I could get a picture of both the front and the back... The picture shows both the shimmering blue back and the characteristic white spot on the forehead. As the name indicates, the species is mainly forest-dwelling and relatively independent of access to water. It subsists from bugs, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, dragonflies, cicadas, ants, butterflies, caterpillars and worms, as well as small fish, frogs, tadpoles, lizards, and snakes. It scouts the surroundings from a high perch, dives to the ground to catch its prey, then returns directly to the perch.