Male Belted Kingfisher

by Phil Chadwick

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Dimensions

18.000 x 14.000 x 0.875 inches

Title

Male Belted Kingfisher

Artist

Phil Chadwick

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

A finely detailed bird with a prominent spiky crest sits perched on a thin branch. Light plays across the feathers, and the background is a smooth blend of blue hues, lending a tranquil atmosphere to the scene.

The Belted Kingfishers are a favourite bird within the Singleton Sanctuary. They chatter their annoyance at being disturbed as they flush from their perch well ahead of the canoe. Kingfishers typically fly just a few hundred metres ahead only to be bothered again as I continue paddling. They are just trying to catch a meal and are plagued by the annoying canoeist. Sometimes I paddle well out in the open water but this is typically a futile consideration as they are easily dislodged from their perch anyway.

Belted Kingfisher: Megaceryle alcyon, Order: Coraciiformes, Family: Alcedinidae Status: Fairly common resident.

The Belted Kingfisher is a medium-sized, stocky bird with a large, crested head, and a long, solid bill. The bird has a small white spot by each eye, at the base of the bill. Its back is an overall slate blue colour. The white belly is transected by a slate blue band, topped with a white collar. The female has an additional rufous band and rufous colouring on the sides of the belly.

Belted Kingfishers are common along streams and shorelines across North America. The kingfisher has a distinctive profile with its large head and hefty bill. It patrols its territory, using the open space above the water as a flyway. They also perch on riverside branches and telephone wires. Belted Kingfishers also make long commuting flights over fields and forests, far from water. It nests in burrows along earthen banks and feeds almost entirely on aquatic prey, diving to catch fish and crayfish with its heavy, straight bill.

The breeding distribution of the Belted Kingfisher is limited in some areas by the availability of suitable nesting sites. Human activity, such as road building and digging gravel pits, has created banks where kingfishers can nest and that has allowed the expansion of the breeding range.

The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly coloured than the male. Among the nearly 100 species of kingfishers, the sexes often look alike. In some species, the male is more colourful.

During breeding season the Belted Kingfisher pair defends a territory against other kingfishers. A territory along a stream includes just the streambed and the adjoining vegetation. Their home turf averages 0.6 miles long. The nest burrow is usually in a dirt bank near water. The tunnel slopes upward from the entrance, perhaps to keep water from entering the nest. Tunnel length ranges from 1 to 8 feet.

As nestlings, Belted Kingfishers have acidic stomachs that help them digest bones, fish scales, and arthropod shells. When they leave the nest, their stomach chemistry has changed and they begin regurgitating pellets which accumulate on the ground around fishing and roosting perches. Scientists can dissect these pellets to learn about the kingfisher’s diet without harming or even observing any wild birds.

Belted Kingfishers wander widely, sometimes showing up in the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, the British Isles, the Azores, Iceland, Greenland, and the Netherlands.

Pleistocene fossils of Belted Kingfishers (to 600,000 years old) have been unearthed in Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas. The oldest known fossil in the kingfisher genus is 2 million years old, found in Alachua County, Florida.

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration during the winter when the windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio.

Uploaded

May 2nd, 2024

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