The Forest Kingfisher is easily distinguishable by its stunning dark royal blue head and pale turquoise back feathers. Male birds have a white collar, while females have a blue nape. They are fairly small birds, weighing between 29 – 45g, and measure around 20-26cm long.

Forest Kingfishers repeatedly call a shrill t-reek most often in the early morning.

While these birds sometimes nest in logs or tree-cavities, they usually choose to live in arboreal termitaria (termite nests in trees). Here, each member of a pair flies straight at the nest site from several metres away, with their bills pointed forward like a bullet, chipping away some of the ‘cement’ with each impact. Eventually a nest chamber about 23 cm in diameter is formed at the end of a short, slightly sloping tunnel.