Belted Kingfisher

Ceryle alcyonOrder: CORACIIFORMES Family: Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)

Codes: Common Name: BEKI Scientific Name: CERALC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178119

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Overview

Belted Kingfisher: Medium kingfisher, distinct, bushy crest, white collar, and large, black dagger-like bill. Upperparts are blue-gray and underparts are white. The male has blue-gray breast band. Legs and feet are gray. Slow direct flight with erratic pattern. Hovers above water to search for prey.

Range and Habitat

Belted Kingfisher: Breeds from Alaska eastward across southern Canada and south throughout most of U.S. Spends winters on the Pacific coast north to southeastern Alaska, and throughout the south, north to the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast to New England. Preferred habitats include rivers, lakes, and saltwater estuaries.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"rattle"

Interesting Facts

Belted Kingfishers have been known to share their tunnels with swallows. The swallows dig out small rooms tucked in the tunnel walls.

To avoid being eaten by hawks, they will dive into the water.

Human activity, such as digging gravel pits and building roads, have created banks where they can build nests and expand their breeding range.

A group of belted kingfishers are collectively known as a "crown" and a "rattle" of kingfishers.

Bird Term Glossary

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Belted Kingfisher

● Song: "rattle"

● Foraging & Feeding: Belted Kingfisher: Eats fish, occasionally too long to swallow completely, accounting for sightings of fish tails sticking out from the bill; when fish are scarce, feeds on mollusks, crustaceans, insects, amphibians, reptiles, young birds, small mammals, and berries. Plunge dives for prey.

● Breeding & nesting: Belted Kingfisher: Five to eight white eggs are laid in a nesting cavity at the end of a long tunnel excavated by the parents, usually in a riverbank of sand or clay. Incubation ranges from 22 to 24 days and is carried out by both parents, with the female sitting through the night, and the male taking her place in the early morning hours.

● Similar species: Belted Kingfisher: Ringed Kingfisher is larger and has an entirely red belly band.

Flight Pattern

Slow direct flight with somewhat erratic pattern., Hovers above water.

● Range & Habitat: Belted Kingfisher: Breeds from Alaska eastward across southern Canada and south throughout most of U.S. Spends winters on the Pacific coast north to southeastern Alaska, and throughout the south, north to the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast to New England. Preferred habitats include rivers, lakes, and saltwater estuaries.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationSlight decline

^MigrationSome migrate

^Weight5.2 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Collar

Similar to the upper part of the human neck, located at the back of the crown.

Crest

Tufts of feathers on the head of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America