Kingfishers have captured the fancy of people for centuries. In Greek mythology, the gods caused a man to drown, leaving his lover, a woman named Halcyon, to grieve and wish to join him. One of the capricious gods took mercy on her, transforming her and her lover into kingfishers. The ancient myths proclaimed that kingfishers nested at sea in midwinter and briefly calmed the turbulent ocean waters while they nested.
Eventually, observation and common sense prevailed, and kingfishers became recognized simply as very interesting birds (without the mythical powers). But we retain the term “Halcyon days,” named after the mythical grieving woman, referring to periods of sun between storms and glorious tranquility in the midst of turmoil.
There are over a hundred species of kingfisher currently classified in one taxonomic family, although some taxonomists would prefer to split this group into three separate families. They are widely distributed around the world, especially in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The Americas have only six species; the U.S. has the belted kingfisher, whose nesting range includes much of North America, plus two more that range into the southwest from Mexico.
A laughing kookaburra making a hollow for a nest in an arboreal termite nest. (Photo by Cabrils / CC BY-SA 4.0)
They share some morphological features, including relatively large heads and long, strong, sharp bills. But they are a varied lot! They range in size from “dwarf” to “giant” (both of Africa); the dwarf kingfisher is about 10 centimeters long and weighs less than 12 grams; the giant kingfisher is over 40 centimeters long and can weigh up to something over 400 grams. Our belted kingfisher lies in the middle of that range, averaging roughly 150 grams.
Many species of kingfisher are noted for the amazing brilliance of their plumage, with males often a bit more colorful than females; gleaming greens and blues result from feather structure, while reds and yellows are made by pigments. However, our belted kingfisher is not so flashy in color and it is the female that bears the reddish band across the breast.
Despite the common name, not all of them feed on fish. In fact, many of them are not much associated with water at all. The numerous forest species commonly capture large insects, but they also take amphibians and worms. The species that do a lot of fishing capture not only fish but also invertebrates and sometimes amphibians or other small vertebrates.
All of them are cavity-nesters, mostly in earthen banks but a few nest in termite mounds or tree holes. Burrows in earthen banks can be several feet long; the giant kingfisher of Africa can build tunnels as long as 20 feet or more. Both sexes share the chores of digging the burrow. The two outer toes are fused together (to various degrees in different species), which might make a better shovel for digging, but some researchers suggest other possible functions, including a better grip on a perch from which the hunting birds search for prey.
One kind of kingfisher inspired a children’s nonsense song: “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree; merry, merry king of the bush is he!”— entertaining itself by eating gumdrops, counting monkeys, and so on. Kookaburras live in Australia and New Guinea. The one that led to the song is the laughing kookaburra of eastern Australia, known for its call. It is about as big as a giant kingfisher, but there are four other, smaller kookaburra species. They all forage in wooded habitats, capturing small vertebrates and large invertebrates. One of them has a very specialized foraging method; it uses its hefty lower bill as a shovel, pushing it like a plow through the litter and soil, picking up worms and snails and other edibles.
Closer to home, the belted kingfisher is an accomplished fisher indeed. It often hunts from a perch, sometimes sitting for rather long periods until it sees a potential prey. It also can hover in one spot for quite a while, observing the water below. If it sees a likely fish, it dives. Each eye has two areas of good acuity, one area for aerial vision (mostly lateral), the other for binocular vision in water. So it can aim precisely as it moves from air to water. Little fish are elusive, however, and not every dive is successful. Both skill and persistence are needed.
• Mary F. Willson is a retired professor of ecology. “On The Trails” appears every Wednesday in the Juneau Empire.
