How to Identify aBelted Kingfisher
Megaceryle alcyon · 11–13.8 in (28–35 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Blue-gray above and white below with a single blue-gray chest band, shaggy double crest and a heavy dagger bill.
Female
Like the male but with an additional rusty band across the belly — brighter than the male, which is unusual.
Male photo: JeffreyGammon / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Second photo: Teddy Llovet / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
Field marks
- Oversized head with a ragged double-pointed crest
- Heavy, straight, dagger-like bill
- Blue-gray chest band; females add a rusty belly band
- Hovers over open water before diving
Similar species
What it sounds like
A loud, dry mechanical rattle, like a fishing reel running out, given as it flies along the water.
Behaviour that gives it away
Hovers on rapid wingbeats then plunges head-first for fish, and nests at the end of a burrow it digs several feet into an earth bank.
Habitat & range
Streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and sheltered coasts with clear water and earth banks, across North America.
When you'll see it
Depending on where in North America you are, it is present all year and a winter visitor.
What it eats
Small fish caught by diving, plus crayfish, amphibians and large insects.
Did you know?
The female is more colourful than the male, carrying a rusty belly band he lacks — a reversal of the usual songbird pattern.
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