Belted Kingfisher

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Belted Kingfisher

Adult female

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Subclass:	Neornithes
Infraclass:	Neognathae
Superorder:	Neoaves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Suborder:	Alcedini
Family:	Cerylidae
Genus:	Megaceryle
Species:	M. alcyon

Binomial name

Megaceryle alcyon
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms

Ceryle alcyon

The Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) is a large, conspicuous and noisy water kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. It is the bird depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $5 note. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three. All six American kingfishers, together with three Old World species, make up the new family Cerylidae.

This bird's breeding habitat is areas near inland bodies of waters or coasts across most of Canada, Alaska and the United States. They migrate from the northern parts of its range to the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and northern South America in winter. During migration they may stray far from land; the species is recorded as an accidental visitor on oceanic islands such as Clarion^[1], and has occurred as an extremely rare vagrant in Iceland, Ireland and the UK.

Adult female (left) and male.

Sound sample:

Belted Kingfisher call

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It is 28-32 cm long, with deep blue or bluish-grey plumage with white markings, a shaggy crest and a broad white collar around the neck. Females have a rusty band along the sides of the belly, making this one of the rather few cases of reverse sexual dimorphism found in North American birds (except birds of prey and owls, where females are almost always larger). Its call is a loud, penetrating rattle given on the wing and when perched.

The Megaceryle large green kingfishers were formerly placed in Ceryle with the Pied Kingfisher, but the latter is closer to the Chloroceryle American green kingfishers. The Belted Kingfisher's closest living relative is the Ringed Kingfisher (M. torquata), and these two in all probability originated from an African Megaceryle which colonized the Americas.^[2]

The Belted Kingfisher is often seen perched prominently on trees, posts, or other suitable "watchpoints" close to water before plunging in head first after its fish prey. They also eat small crustaceans, frogs, aquatic insects, small mammals, lizards and berries^{[verification needed]}.

They leave their breeding habitat when the water freezes; in warmer parts of its range, these birds are permanent residents. Still, a few individuals may linger even in the coldest winters except in the Arctic, if there are open bodies of water remaining^[3].

These birds nest in a horizontal tunnel made in a river bank or sand bank. The female lays 5 to 8 eggs. Both parents excavate the tunnel, incubate the eggs and feed the young.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Brattstrom & Howell (1956)
^ Moyle (2006)
^ Henninger (1906)

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Megaceryle alcyon. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Brattstrom, Bayard H. & Howell, Thomas R. (1956): The Birds of the Revilla Gigedo Islands, Mexico. Condor 58(2): 107-120. doi:10.2307/1364977 DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext
Henninger, W.F. (1906): A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio. Wilson Bull. 18(2): 47-60. DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext
Moyle, Robert G. (2006): A Molecular Phylogeny of Kingfishers (Alcedinidae) with Insights into Early Biogeographic History. Auk 123(2): 487–499. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[487:AMPOKA]2.0.CO;2 HTML fulltext without images