RIVER KINGFISHER (Alcedo Atthis)
Conservation status: 🟠
Family: Kingfisher
Diet: Aquatic insects, small fish (minnow, stickleback)
Wingspan: 24-26cm
• Unmistakable bright blue back with orange mask & breast
• Widespread throughout central and southern England, however under threat from habitat degradation and waterway pollution
• Highly territorial, Kingfishers will live in breeding pairs and only allow chicks to remain for around 4 days after leaving the nest before driving them out for the next brood
• Kingfishers are ground nesters, digging tunnels into river banks that lead to nest chambers
• Chicks can eat up to 18 fish a day, with clutches running up to 7 eggs as standard - that’s over 120 fish Kingfishers have to hunt in 1 day
• During courtship in spring, males will performatively hunt for females, and present her with his catch, attempting to feed her from his own beak
• Kingfisher beaks are so aerodynamically efficient, they are the design inspiration behind modern Japanese bullet trains
Conservation status: 🟠
Family: Kingfisher
Diet: Aquatic insects, small fish (minnow, stickleback)
Wingspan: 24-26cm
• Unmistakable bright blue back with orange mask & breast
• Widespread throughout central and southern England, however under threat from habitat degradation and waterway pollution
• Highly territorial, Kingfishers will live in breeding pairs and only allow chicks to remain for around 4 days after leaving the nest before driving them out for the next brood
• Kingfishers are ground nesters, digging tunnels into river banks that lead to nest chambers
• Chicks can eat up to 18 fish a day, with clutches running up to 7 eggs as standard - that’s over 120 fish Kingfishers have to hunt in 1 day
• During courtship in spring, males will performatively hunt for females, and present her with his catch, attempting to feed her from his own beak
• Kingfisher beaks are so aerodynamically efficient, they are the design inspiration behind modern Japanese bullet trains