The kingfisher is quite rightly referred to as the jewel of the river and considered to be one of Britain’s most beautiful native birds. At first sight, this stunning bird is viewed as a blaze of turquoise blue as it flashes by but on closer inspection the kingfisher features a an abundance of bright orange contrasted with their white throat and black bill.
1. They close their eyes as they dive into the water, so they are fishing blind! They bob their heads before diving to accurately judge the depth of the fish.
2. The design of a kingfisher’s beak is aerodynamically efficient, allowing it to dive from its perch, towards its prey, with maximum speed and minimum splash. In fact, the beak design is so clever that the front of many Japanese bullet trains are modelled to mimic it.
3. Kingfishers Don’t Actually Like Each Other, they are solitary birds and have to overcome a natural aversion to one another in order to come together to breed. Their courtship can have an underlying tension as they move awkwardly around one another. Even the male’s mating poise mirrors its aggressive stance.
4. A kingfisher pair dig a nest tunnel in vertical, sandy river banks. The nest chamber at the end has a slight depression to prevent eggs rolling out, but no material is brought into the nest.
If there was one top tip to seeing kingfishers it is really to recognise their call and listen out for it. They are vocal little birds and their single or sometimes two note whistle is high pitched, loud and carries far. If you look quickly in the direction of that call when you hear it your chances of kingfisher views are greatly increased.
Kingfishers are widespread, residing in almost any water body where there is prey. Commonly using rivers, canals and lakes. Anywhere there is a healthy water body with life in it a kingfisher is likely to check it out.
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