Wild Wednesday - Kingfisher
A most beautiful bird, shy and small, it has a body length of 16 centimetres and a wingspan of 25 centimetres, a kingfisher is slightly larger than a robin, but it weighs twice as much.
Easily spotted, if you are lucky enough, with its stunning cobalt blue and vivid orange plumage. As they don’t migrate, they can be found along rivers, lakes and canals, all year round, but you are more likely to catch a glimpse from April to August, which is during and after the breeding season, when they will be out and about hunting for prey to feed their young.
Tips for spotting
1. Go to where the water is slow flowing, clear, shallow, and where they can find things to eat, such as newts, shrimps, minnows, sticklebacks, tadpoles and aquatic insects.
2. You will need to get up early in the morning, as this is when they first appear to feed – they are hungry when they wake up.
3. As stated above, spring and summer are the best times to see one, as they are feeding offspring. They need about 100 small fishes a day to feed the hungry mouths - they have up to seven chicks and have two or three broods each season.
4. C heck out low hanging branches – the kingfisher will perch patiently on a branch looking for its next meal in the shallow water below.
5. Listen – they have a distinctive whistle that is a high-pitched ‘peep’ – if you can recognise this, hang around!
6. Being creatures of habit, they like the same stretch of water to nest and feed, so if you spot one, it’s a good idea go back again.
7. Stay quiet and still – they are timid and easily spooked.
8. Be patient – you may need to stay a while to spot one.
9. Be prepared – they are fast, diving for prey at up 25 mph, so you may just see a quick flash of bright blue.
10. Keep your distance – they are protected in the UK; it is illegal to disturb their burrows and going too close could cause parents to abandon their eggs or chicks.
A few kingfisher facts ...
To tell if it’s a male or female … look at the beak, the male’s is black, and the female’s lower beak is orange-pink, as if they have applied lipstick!
Their head bobs backwards and forwards before diving into the water to judge the position of the fish, and as they dive into water, they close their eyes, so they are fishing blind.
They make tunnels in high-sided riverbanks to making a chamber to lay their eggs. The eggs take around 20 days to incubate and chicks fledge after 25 days.
A group of kingfishers is called a ‘concentration.’
Go local – at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Arundel , kingfishers have been breeding on site since 2020. They have built two artificial nesting banks that replicate the steep sided riverbanks where the kingfishers nest. You can view from their ‘ discovery hide’ which looks out over the artificial nesting bank.
Read more here: Kingfisher | The Wildlife Trusts