Belted Kingfisher

About the Belted Kingfisher

The Belted Kingfisher is a stocky, big-headed bird with a shaggy crest, a heavy dagger bill, and blue-gray plumage over a white collar. It is one of the few North American birds in which the female is more colorful than the male - she wears a rusty band across the belly that he lacks.

Kingfishers hunt from perches over clear water or hover in place, then plunge headfirst to seize small fish, crayfish, and aquatic insects. Pairs excavate a nest burrow up to several feet deep in an earthen bank, and each bird defends a stretch of shoreline with a loud, mechanical rattle call.

In Texas the Belted Kingfisher is found on rivers, lakes, and stock ponds statewide. Numbers are highest from fall through spring, when northern migrants join the resident birds.