Belted Kingfisher

 Back for a new post...finally!

It's been a busy time since my last post, and I still have Blue Heron and Osprey posts ahead.

For the last month or so, I've been tracking a Belted Kingfisher bird, spending many hours trying to get some decent shots of this shy, skittish, beautiful bird.

Described online as a "large, conspicuous water-kingfisher native to North America" I would add that it has a rather unique, stocky body that supports a wild-crested head and thick beak that seem at first glance to be too large for its body.

                                      Let's face it...it's "Woody Woodpecker on Crack!"

The female kingfisher above sports colors and markings that are considered more beautiful than the male, pictured below.

The kingfisher measures between 11-14 inches, weighs between 4.0 and 7.0 ounces, flies at speeds reaching 26 mph, and has a wingspan of 19-23 inches. The song of the kingfisher has been described as "wild and rattling" and one usually hears the bird before seeing it.

                                                               

       

 It eats mostly minnow-size fish but I've seen it struggle successfully with larger fish that has to be "tenderized" by pounding it before swallowing.                    

The following photos are what I believe are the best of the hundreds taken:

 

 

Diving for prey.

Fact: The kingfisher nests, not in trees, but in tunnels it creates on the vertical banks of rivers and streams.

The tunnels are long enough and are sloped upward to form an air pocket for when the offspring arrive. (Kingfishers have two toes that are fused together, forming a web that aids with their digging.) Ah, Mother Nature!

 

 

The photos on the right and below show the male courting the female by offering her a piece of fish.  Unfortunately for him, she has a college degree and a rocking hairdo, so she decides to wait for a better choice.

                                                                                                                                                       

                                                   This is my favorite.

 

Postscript: Thanks to all (especially my wife) for the wonderful notes and letters sent to me during my Honor Flight experience! It was one of the most memorable moments of my life, traveling with my son and all the U.S. veterans to see the memorials in Washington, D.C. and returning to Wisconsin to receive the warmth and gratitude from hundreds of people who gathered to welcome us home! I will never forget it.