Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Kingfishers can be determined by the people without deeper ornithological experiences due to their typical look. All this family contains in total 92 species, divided to Alcedininiae, Cerylinae and Halcyoninae. Members of the last group usually have very strong beak and they are less fixed to the water environment. Their most known representatives are australian kokaburras (Dacelo sp.).



Common Kingfisher settled all the temperate zone of Eurasia, Japan and tropical southeastern Asia. It has a very weak sexual dimorphism in the colour. It lives along the water streams and preys on the fish, waiting for them on its perch. After the hunt, the bird must handle the fish in that way to eat it headfirst. Otherway, its bony rays could stick in its throat and then, the bird could choke down. Its voice is like a long whistling. In the period of nesting, it digs very long cavities in the soft substrates of the banks and then, nests inside. In non-russian Europe and tropical zone, this species is non-migrating, but the populations of the ex-Sovietian Union migrate to the south.