THE COMMON KINGFISHER

COMMON KINGFISHER at  DAL LAKE, Kashmir ,India

 

Catch of Common Kingfisher
This Photo has been taken by me near Sundarban nathional park, India

Physical appearance : Common Kingfisher is 17 cm in length and weigh around 30- 34 g. Their wingspan is 30 inches long. Their underparts are bright orange in colour with the white bib. Their wings are bluish green and the tail is bright blue in colour. They have blue head with the white mark on either side of it. They have short legs which are colored in orange. The wings and tails are short while the bill is long and pointed.


Habitat : Common Kingfisher prefers to live near streams, slow flowing rivers, ponds and lakes.
Diet : Common kingfisher feeds on aquatic insects, small fish and prawns. They mostly hunt during the morning or evening hours.

Reproduction : Common Kingfisher usually mate during the spring season. Males try to attract the females with the fish in their beaks. The females lay 6 – 7 eggs. Eggs are incubated for about 20 days. Fledging period rests from 23 -27 days. They do-not build nests, they place their eggs on a litter of fish bones . Both the males and females bring food for the young ones and take care of them. Young ones are somewhat blue to pale red in colour. Most of the Kingfishers are territorial.