Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Belted Kingfishers





One of the most widespread land birds in all of North America, breeding from Alaska to Labrador and south to Florida, texas, and California.


Male






Males have a wide blue band across the breast; females have an additional rusty band that extends down their flanks.  In both sexes the wings are tipped with white, and tail feathers are barred with white.





Female





They cooperate with housekeeping chores and the rearing of their young.  While males sometimes remain in the northern latitudes to keep an eye on a prime nesting site, which is vital to their nesting success, females migrate south for the winter.  In the spring they return to the waiting males.






They tend to work a lone with a diet that consists almost entirely of small fish.  But when heavy rains cloud the waterways, they will snatch insects on the wing and scoop frogs, lizards, and snakes off the ground.  Like owls and hawks, the kingfisher’s internal organs use the nourishing part of their prey and disgorge the indigestible scales and bones as pellets.







No comments:

Post a Comment