Kingfishers are the branch threshers of the tropical arboreal world। Knocking their ambitious sized prey about, they dominate their meals before swallowing them. There are about 90 species of kingfisher inhabiting trees water, and rivers, and it’s not hard to see how that many species survive. All have tufty crested heads, some cheek stripes, purpose built and well defined bills, and delicate feet for dives and perch leverage while slamming prey into unconsciousness.Kingfishers live in both woodland and wetland habitats, and demonstrate a strong presence. Dipping down suddenly, they subtly capture the flag. Whether there are lizards, loaches, large worms, or fish, nothing makes the Kingfisher back down from a hearty meal. The Kingfisher would probably haul a tuna up if there were a branch big enough to kill it on. Kingfishers hunting out of their weight class are interesting to watch beak wrestle with their outsize prey.
Kingfishers will have colorations to match seawalls or native habitat cover. Blending and brilliant appearance by turn seem to make this an effective natural plumage. The characteristic circular neck motion is fascinating for birding enthusiasts to observe. This coordination and side-to-side action make the Kingfisher a remarkable bird.
Kingfishers that live near water splash down regularly to hunt small fish by diving। They also eat crayfish, frogs, and insects, and reptiles, and their beaks can deliver the goods. On land or in water, the swooping dive is usually the last thing the Kingfisher preys sees or senses. The delicate tone on tone plumage stippling may lead unwary prey to believe a beaky flower is resident above.
The Kingfisher might have a brilliant turquoise green coat with striations and top of head stippling to confuse prey with the floral background. The Malachite Kingfisher might have Toucan-like brilliant combinations of dark maroon, brilliant green and stark white with red plumage. Yellow, dark rich green, and dull teal blue may bring out the other feather colors with a stunning effect. It’s hard to understand how these birds could leap on prey without being seen from afar.
Kingfishers of water, river, and tree types break down the mobile protein on the wing with their beaks, then beat their captured prey to death. This is done either by slapping it against a branch, rock, or tree trunk or by felling it on a stone. This helps break up insect coats, small fish bones, and invertebrate “armor” too. The Kingfisher vocalization would seem to warn the prey, but perhaps few have lived to remember it!
The Kingfisher sees all things, in the air and in the water. Preening while perching, the sharp eyes, agile flight, and cruel bill mean the Kingfisher prey is twig sushi is no time. Kingfishers emit a continuous cricket like “wheet” that may lull prey into a relaxed state. A quiet Kingfisher is still a hungry Kingfisher though. The Kingfisher eyes have a specialized advantage for dual environment predation, a curving natural lens able to focus in the different hunting environments.
The Old World tropics and Australasia are the core area for Kingfishers. Europe and North America north of Mexico are very sparsely populated. The tropical forest scrub of South America has no more than a half dozen species there. But Gambia has eight resident species in its African republic.
The smallest species of kingfisher is the African Dwarf Kingfisher, at 4 inches। The largest, the Giant Kingfisher, tops out at an average of 13।5 oz and measuring 18 inches. The Australian kingfisher normally weighs about a pound!
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