Amazon Kingfisher

The Amazon Kingfisher is the largest of the New World green kingfishers, a robust, long-billed bird of tropical American waterways with glossy dark green upperparts and a shaggy, often raised crest. Males show a broad chestnut breast band across an otherwise white underside, while females lack the chestnut band, instead showing a band of green spotting across the chest. The heavy, all-dark bill is proportionally large even for a kingfisher, well suited to handling sizable fish.

Found along a wide range of forested and semi-open waterways from Mexico to Argentina, the Amazon Kingfisher is a familiar sight perched on branches and snags overhanging rivers and streams throughout much of tropical Latin America.

Key field marks

• Large size for a green kingfisher, with a heavy, long bill
• Glossy dark green upperparts and shaggy crest
• Males show a broad chestnut breast band; females show a green-spotted chest band instead
• White underparts and throat

Similar species

• Green Kingfisher is noticeably smaller with a proportionally shorter bill and more white spotting on the wings.
• Green-and-rufous Kingfisher has rufous (not white) underparts overall, quite different in tone.
• Amazon Kingfisher's larger size and heavier bill are the best clues when separating it from smaller green kingfisher relatives sharing its range.

Amazon Kingfishers range from Mexico through Central America and much of South America as far south as northern Argentina, inhabiting rivers, streams, lakes, lagoons, and mangrove-lined coasts, generally favoring larger, slower-moving waterways than some of its smaller relatives. They are found from lowland tropical forest to more open agricultural and semi-urban waterways within their range.

The species is largely non-migratory, remaining resident throughout its extensive range, though individuals may shift locally in response to water levels and seasonal changes in fish availability.

Behavior

Amazon Kingfishers hunt from low perches overhanging water, watching for movement below before diving to seize prey, and they are also capable of hovering briefly over open water in the manner of some Old World kingfishers.

Voice

A loud, harsh rattling call is given in flight, along with sharper single notes used in territorial and alarm contexts.

Feeding

Fish make up the majority of the diet, supplemented by aquatic insects and occasionally small crustaceans, typically captured in a swift dive from a perch a few meters above the water.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs excavate a long tunnel nest into an earthen riverbank, ending in a nesting chamber where eggs are laid on bare soil; both parents share incubation and chick-feeding duties over the nesting period.