Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
_____________________________________________________________________________________________Birds 257 – Common Kingfishers
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m) COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis (m)
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
- Common
Kingfishers Alcedo atthis are usually rather shy birds, and all
that the observer usually sees is a brilliant metallic blue blur as the
bird whizzes past at high speed. They can be surprisingly difficult to
spot, despite their bright colours, so it pays to watch one closely if it
flies by to establish where it may have landed. Opportunities to
photograph them are rare, other than at certain bird reserves where
artificial nesting banks or feeding stations have been provided, and where
they may be observed from hides. However, the images on this page were
obtained using patient fieldcraft rather than hides. A mainly black lower
mandible is a characteristic of male Common Kingfishers. These birds are
expert fishermen, specialising on smaller species, including Three-spined
Stickleback Gasterosteus
aculeatus, or Common Minnow Phoxinus
phoxinus, as shown in several of the
photographs above. The equivalent of the bird’s own weight in fish needs
to be consumed daily, so three or four successful fishing forays each day
should suffice. Once its appetite has been sated it is likely that a
Kingfisher being observed will disappear to digest its substantial meal,
so waiting for it to return may prove fruitless! The photographer once
filmed a Kingfisher catching three Common Minnows in a single strike, but
one wriggled free, another was dropped back into the water and the third
was rather less fortunate! Several aspects of behaviour are illustrated
above, including the use of the nictitating membrane (the third eyelid) to
protect the eye, pellet-regurgitation – in this case almost certainly the
disgorged pellet consisted mainly of Common Minnow scales, and hovering,
usually deployed if there is no convenient branch above the area being
fished, or for checking a descent and readjusting when descending from a
high branch. A few of these images have been cropped.
- David’s short films of Common Kingfishers
may be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AirIEc0NofO29R6V9Zk247r8O9PW2O1.
- David’s photographic
books illustrating Common Kingfishers may be found by using this
hyperlink: https://www.bobbooks.co.uk/bookshop?page=1&search=david+element.
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