Belted Kingfisher

The Belted Kingfisher is a stocky, large-headed bird with a shaggy blue-gray crest and a heavy, dagger-like bill, commonly seen perched on wires or branches overlooking water, or hovering before plunging headfirst after fish. Both sexes have a blue-gray back and a broad blue-gray breast band across an otherwise white underside, but the female is unusual among North American birds in being more colorful than the male, sporting an additional rufous band across the belly that the male lacks.

Key Field Marks

• Large head with a shaggy, ragged blue-gray crest
• Heavy, straight, dagger-shaped bill
• Blue-gray upperparts and a blue-gray breast band across white underparts
• Female shows an additional rufous (reddish-brown) band across the belly, absent in males — unusual reverse coloration

Similar Species

• Ringed Kingfisher is considerably larger with the entire underside washed rufous-chestnut, not just a band.
• Green Kingfisher is much smaller with dark green upperparts and white spotting, lacking the shaggy blue-gray crest.

Habitat

Belted Kingfishers are found along a wide variety of waterways, including rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, and coastal estuaries, wherever there is clear water for spotting prey and suitable perches or banks nearby.

Range

They breed across nearly all of North America, from Alaska and Canada south through the United States.

Migration

Most populations in the northern part of the range migrate south in winter to areas where water remains unfrozen, while populations in milder regions may remain resident year-round.

Behavior

Belted Kingfishers are solitary and territorial, often seen perched prominently over water or hovering in place before diving to catch prey; their flight is strong and somewhat undulating.

Voice

The species gives a loud, harsh, rattling call, often uttered in flight, that is one of the most distinctive sounds along North American waterways.

Feeding

They hunt primarily by watching from a perch or hovering over water, then plunge-diving headfirst to catch small fish, crayfish, and other aquatic invertebrates in their bill.

Nesting

Unusually among North American birds, Belted Kingfishers excavate long horizontal burrows, sometimes over a meter deep, into earthen banks near water, where the female lays her eggs at the end of the tunnel.