What does a kingfisher eat? Kingfisher. Habitat and lifestyle of the kingfisher bird. Enemies, adverse factors

02/19/2018 11:35 MSK 5 127

The kingfisher is an extremely interesting and very beautiful bird.

Many lovers of wildlife, having met her on the banks of a river or a forest lake, are fascinated by the flights of the kingfisher, its behavior and, most importantly, its hunt.

And meeting him in the wild is a real success for an amateur birdwatcher, since this amazing bird loves silence and solitude.

Today we will talk about what kind of bird it is - an ordinary kingfisher, what is surprising and interesting about it.

The kingfisher is a bird easily recognizable from many other birds. Even the one who meets him for the first time will immediately, at first glance, say - "I saw a kingfisher." Still, by its appearance it very much resembles some bright tropical bird, who knows how it has flown into our region.

It has a compact head, a four-sided beak of solid length, but the most important thing is its bright colors. True, close up it may seem that the plumage of the bird is dull. But its feathers can refract light, resulting in that delightful brightness that distinguishes it from many other birds.

The bird itself is small - the weight of an adult is no more than 45 grams. The wingspan is from 7 to 8 centimeters.

Long and straight beak, short wings and tail make the bird look like a swift bright sparkle. The feet are small and weak, completely unsuitable for movement on the ground. Therefore, the kingfisher uses only flight to move in space.

As mentioned above, you can rarely meet a kingfisher because of its love of solitude. Even the name of the bird itself, as they say, comes from the fact that people in the old days did not see its nests, and therefore concluded that chicks appear only in winter.

Nevertheless, the kingfisher bird lives on the territory of almost all of Russia, including Central Siberia, and not only in Russia. The bird prefers to settle near reservoirs with clean, preferably running water, but so that the reservoir is not too shallow and not particularly deep.

There are less and less environmentally friendly water bodies in the world - this is due exclusively to human economic activities. It is for this reason that kingfishers prefer to settle in remote secluded places where a person either does not appear at all, or is very rare.

And this is the main reason for rare encounters with this bird in nature. By the way, the economic development of new territories also leads to the fact that the number of kingfishers is steadily declining, albeit at a slow pace.

The common kingfisher is the only one of all birds that carries out its activities in three environments at once:

• in the water - here he finds food for himself;
• in the air - this is a classic that needs no explanation;
• on the ground - here pairs of kingfishers build nests.

In its way of life, the kingfisher bird differs little from other birds. But there are also features that are characteristic only of these beautiful birds.

The most interesting one is that the kingfisher tries to avoid its relatives, and therefore triples its nest away from other pairs, at a distance of at least 300 meters. Some people dig their nests even further away from other pairs.

This bird is generally monogamous, but there are also cases when the male forms several pairs, but this is quite rare. Couples live together in the summer, fly away for the winter. But the next year they gather again, and they return to the same nest.

Birds are migratory, wintering in North Africa, South Asia and Southern Europe. Kingfishers living in the North Caucasus stay at home for the winter.

Kingfisher is a rather tenacious and strong bird. Unlike many other species, its lifespan is noticeably longer - the kingfisher lives under favorable conditions for 15 years or even more. The increased life expectancy is affected by the desire for environmentally friendly, remote habitats and the almost complete absence of natural enemies.

However, not all individuals survive to this age. Some die even as chicks, leaving the nest before their time, others do not withstand difficult long flights.

The kingfisher has very few natural enemies in nature. Only hawks and sometimes hunt them. For hunters, the bird is not of particular interest - it can be shot or sung, except for a stuffed animal.

The kingfisher is a cautious bird. He looks out for prey, hiding in dense foliage, and it is difficult to spot him. And in flight, the bird develops a speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour, therefore it is quite difficult to hunt it even for.

Only sometimes she can sit on a snag sticking out of the water in order to spy out small fish. Here she can become the prey of the falcon. But it is at this time that you can see the kingfisher in all details.

Nutrition

The food of the kingfisher bird is very interesting. His main food is small fish, which he catches in streams and clean rivers. The basis of poultry nutrition is:

• living in water;
• small fish;
• shellfish;
• river shrimp;
• fish fry of all species.

Hiding in the foliage of coastal trees, the kingfisher looks out for suitable prey in the water. Seeing the fry, the bird quickly rushes into the water, intercepts the fish with its long beak across the body.

Then the kingfisher returns to its place and kills the prey - takes it by the tail and hits the branch several times. After that, it swallows the fish (head first) or takes it to the female in the nest.

If you can't catch a fish or fry, the kingfisher is content with insects. The kingfisher is a voracious bird. In a day, he can catch and eat 12. During the feeding period, the amount of food caught increases.

The most interesting thing about kingfisher breeding is building a nest. The common kingfisher is one of the few birds that do not build a nest from twigs, but dig real burrows on the coastal slopes and cliffs. The entrance to the burrow is well camouflaged by branches and roots, and it ends in a cave, at the bottom of which the female makes clutches and incubates chicks.

Both birds of the pair dig a hole, raking the ground with their paws and beak. It happens that during construction an insurmountable obstacle arises. Then they abandon the started hole and begin to build a new one nearby.

The birds' nest is not lined with anything. The female lays 7–8 eggs directly on the ground. While the female incubates chicks, the male feeds her. Chicks do not hatch at the same time. A caring dad brings them insects, cutting them up beforehand. It is interesting that he feeds the chicks one by one and knows exactly which of them he has already given food - no one is left hungry.

Having brought the fry, the father inserts it into the chick's key head first. Sometimes the fish may be larger than the chick, and its tail sticks out of the beak. As it digests, the fish is pushed further.

1. During the summer, the female can lay eggs twice. This is one of the few birds capable of feeding two broods per season.
2. Interestingly, the kingfisher is not at all cleanliness. At the bottom of the nest, a whole layer of fish bones, scales, remnants of insects and excrement of chicks and their parents gradually accumulates.
3. Therefore, a kingfisher burrow can be easily detected by its strong unpleasant smell and hordes of flies. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the next year the couple returns to their nest.
4. Despite being monogamous, sometimes the male starts a family on the side. Now he has to take care of two broods.
5. The first step to mating is the male. He brings a fish to the chosen female, and if she accepts the offering, a family is created.
6. Kingfishers never form a flock. The exception is autumn flights for wintering.

It has a bright plumage, shiny above, bluish-green, with small light specks on the head and wings, rusty-reddish below, the stripe across the eye to the back of the head and the neck are light. The head is large, the beak is long and straight, the wings and tail are short. Male and female are the same in color, but males are slightly larger and brighter. Moves only with the help of the wings, as the legs are short and not designed for long-term movement. The plumage of the kingfisher is dull near; its brightness is achieved by the refraction of light by feathers. Kingfishers love solitude and are rare to see. Life expectancy is approximately 15 years.

Spreading

The species includes 6 subspecies common in Eurasia (up to Southern Scandinavia and St. Petersburg), in northwestern Africa (up to the Sahara), in Indonesia and New Zealand, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. There are sedentary and migratory subspecies. About 5,000-10,000 pairs nest in Italy.

It is also found in the forest-steppe and steppe parts of Central Siberia: near Achinsk, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, Novosibirsk in the upper reaches of the Yenisei and along its tributaries Abakan, Tuba, in the lower reaches of Kebezh, on the Mozharskie lakes, as well as along the Chuna river (a tributary of the Angara). The northernmost nesting point is the Upper Imbak River. Occurs near the village of Pogodaevo and the village of Vorogovo. In addition, it is common in Ukraine: along the river Desna. Sighted nesting in bays in Dnepropetrovsk. Also, the kingfisher has recently been often found in the South-West of Crimea (Balaklava, Golubaya Bay in Sevastopol).

In late April - early May, the kingfisher arrives in central Russia.

The kingfisher has very strict requirements for life: a clean reservoir with running water (not shallow, but not deep either), a cliff and overgrown banks. Kingfishers do not like close proximity to other birds. The number of kingfishers is currently declining due to human economic activities.

Nutrition

Natural enemies

The kingfisher has practically no enemies. Sometimes young kingfishers are caught by hawks and falcons. Man rarely hunts this bird, except perhaps because of a stuffed animal.

Legend

Legend has it that Noah sent a kingfisher for fire. He flew high into the skies, and his wings were dyed the color of the sky. When he saw the fire, he went down and took a firebrand, which burned his feathers and paws, which have since become a fiery color.

Bibliography

• Boris Zhukov Glittering Angler // Around the world: magazine. - Moscow: 2009. - No. 8. - S. 89-98.

Links

• Database "Vertebrates of Russia": common kingfisher

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what "Kingfisher" is in other dictionaries:

Kingfisher ... Spelling dictionary-reference

- "ZIMORODOK", USSR, BELARUSFILM, 1972, b / w, 80 min. Children's adventure film story. Having learned from the former military pilot Sedoy about the exploit of the partisan demolition known as Kingfisher, the pioneers go to the places of military exploits of their fellow countryman and ... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

ZIMORODOK, kingfisher, husband. (zool.). A large-headed bird that lives near the water and feeds on fish. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

ZIMORODOK, dka, husband. A small bird related to the hoopoe with a large head on a short neck and a long beak (swimming in the snow in winter). Blue z. (with a shiny blue-yellow plumage of the back, one of the species). | adj. kingfisher, oh, oh. Family ... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Noun, number of synonyms: 11 alkyd (2) alkyon (2) alcyone (3) ... Synonym dictionary

kingfisher- tikrieji tulžiai statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Alcedo angl. kingfisher vok. Eisvogel, m; Fischer, m rus. kingfisher, m pranc. martin pêcheur, m ryšiai: platesnis terminas - tulžiai siauresnis terminas - apykaklėtasis ... ... Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

In the Chinese tradition, it symbolizes calmness, serenity, tranquility, beauty, dignity, speed, graceful female attire, modest nature, inclined to solitude ... Dictionary of symbols

M. Large-headed bird with beautiful plumage and long beak, living near the water. Efremova's Explanatory Dictionary. T.F. Efremova. 2000 ... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

Kingfishers are birds of unusual and vibrant beauty. More than a hundred species belong to their family, and one is brighter than the other. In the Belgorod region, you can most often find the common, or blue kingfisher.

The first thought when you see a bird on a branch: and how does its beak not outweigh it? Second: strong, she probably. The kingfisher is really strong. Moreover, his carcass is quite small - it is a little larger than a sparrow in size. But the beak is really huge for such a bird, but very functional.

Weighs bird up to 50 g. Kingfisher wing in length- about 7 cm, beak- 3.5 cm. The wings of the bird are powerful, but there are no legs. Therefore, kingfishers prefer to fly, sit on their feet rather than walk.

The kingfisher is not a companionable bird. He is a true introvert, avoiding everyone: people, animals, amphibians and birds. Even the kingfisher neighbors settle as far apart as possible. Therefore, Belgorodians rarely meet them.

In our country, the kingfisher is called the fisher king, by the way, in many countries this is its official name. Five times I have seen a kingfisher hunting. First, he sits on some post or twig by the water - he is preparing. It takes him a few seconds to attack. The bird flies up sharply and dives into the water, grabs the fish and returns to its place.

Kingfisher loves small fish- eats about ten a day, if the fishing is unsuccessful, then he does not disdain insects, frogs at all.

Clean and warm

“… Over the water, sparkling with cobalt blue and green, like a precious stone, a small bird flew in a straight and fast flight. From spreading it sat on a dry tree branch hanging over the water ... It is not difficult to examine the kingfisher: it sits quietly on a branch for a long time, looking into the water and dropping down its long beak.

Experts say that the kingfisher has very strict requirements for the reservoir: clean, running water, it warms up under the sun's rays, but not much, next to it is a steep coast, overgrown with cattails and bushes. And it is also desirable that a minimum of other birds were nearby, and there were no people at all.

Photo pixabay.com

But kingfishers also willingly compromise in favor of waters rich in small fish. In the southern regions on a fish farm, I saw an excellent confirmation of this: a couple of blue kingfishers, who, apparently, did not hear about such serious requirements for their habitat, and, it seems, were happy. They were not embarrassed by the neighborhood with cormorants, drinkers and people. They calmly fished out fish after fish from the pool of the fish farm, which was in the open air. The birds skillfully flew around the net stretched around the pool - an impregnable barrier for large drinkers and cormorants, and enjoyed their fishing. Local workers say that they have seen "these two" here for about five years already: they arrive as soon as it gets warmer.

In no less southern region I met another curious kingfisher, this time with green plumage. The plump bird lived on a stocked pond in the park. She did not pay attention to people at all, sat on the fence, diving from it into the water for another fish, and ate ate on the same fence.

Will you be born in winter?

Kingfishers hatch chicks summer. These are migratory birds. They will appear with us approximately at the beginning of May, and will fly away in September.

In birds, on average six eggs... Baby kingfishers hatch bald and blind - completely dependent on their parents. But fortunately, parents are caring, they feed the offspring at first with soft food, for example, dragonfly larvae. At first, the family keeps together: the chicks learn to fly, their parents feed them.

Parents-kingfishers after the "summer" fly away for the winter, but the next year, as a rule, they reunite and return to their old "nest".

As you already understood, the kingfisher has nothing to do with winter. The mystery of its name associated with his "nest".

The kingfisher, like its fellows from the Rakshiformes detachment, are called burrowers. It is not without reason that these birds have chosen the steep banks near the water, overgrown with bushes. It is convenient to dig a hole in such a precipice, and the bushes will hide the entrance to it from predators.

The entrance to the hole kingfisher - about 5 cm. Further there is an expanding corridor. The hole resembles a flask with a long neck and a rounded bottom for chemical experiments. Experts estimate that it takes a pair of kingfishers ten days to dig a hole. Birds drill a hole with their beaks, and scoop out the ground with their paws.

Specially bedding the kingfisher does not lay in the nest, although, of course, there are exceptions. It is formed by itself from fish scales and other remnants of the meal. As you might guess, the kingfisher's burrow is unkempt. They say smelly.

The most widespread version of the origin of the name of the bird - "little earth" (giving birth in the ground) - has transformed over time. By the way, in the Bulgarian language the kingfisher will be "Zemerodnoto Ribarche" - consonant with both our "zemfork" and with the overseas fisherman king. By the way, a relative of our kingfisher - kookaburra- is the national symbol of Australia along with the platypus and koala.

Natalia Kozlova

Kingfishers (lat.Alsedo) are a genus of birds belonging to the kingfisher family, the Raksheiformes order and the Kingfishers genus. According to the most interesting legend, the origin of the name is due to the distorted name of a bird that lives and incubates chicks in earthen burrows - a shrew.

Description of kingfishers

Kingfishers (Аlsedinidae) are a large family of birds, but the birds that inhabit the tropical and subtropical regions of our planet are distinguished by the greatest variety of species. Some species are often found up to the coldest latitudes in South and North America.

Appearance

The Kingfisher family includes mainly small, often quite colorful and beautiful birds. The main feature of such birds is represented by a large and strong beak, as well as short legs. The shape varies depending on the type of prey, therefore, individuals that feed on fish have a sharp and straight beak, while in kookabara it is wide enough and not too long, adapted for crushing prey in the form of mammals or small amphibians. Species that specialize in catching worms and earth dwellers have a beak with a characteristic hook-shaped tip.

It is interesting! The presence of a bright orange color on the abdomen is due to the presence of special pigments of carotenoids in the feathers, and other feathers, which have a special physical structure, reflect a certain amount of the visible spectrum, therefore they have a blue color and a metallic sheen.

Regardless of the species, all members of the Kingfisher family are characterized by very short legs with fused fore toes over a significant part of the length. The size of Alcedinidae birds varies greatly. For example, the smallest birds are represented by the species African forest dwarf kingfisher (Ispidina lacontei). The length of this bird does not exceed 10 cm with a maximum weight of 10 g. Among the largest members of the family are the Pied Giant Kingfisher (Megaseryle mahima), as well as the laughing kookabara (Daselo novaeguineae), reaching a length of 38-40 cm with a weight of 350-400 G.

Lifestyle and behavior

Adult kingfishers live in their territorial area mostly singly. Such a territory necessarily includes a section of the coastline with a length of about one kilometer. Any stranger who appears in the protected area is expelled during the fight. With the onset of winter, kingfishers leave their lands, migrating closer to the south until spring.

How many kingfishers live

The average life span of a kingfisher in natural conditions, recorded today, is approximately fifteen years.

Kingfisher species

According to the opinion of various authors, a different number of species are assigned to the genus Alsedo, but in accordance with the International Union of Ornithologists it is possible to distinguish:

• Common or blue kingfisher(lat. Аlcedо аtthis) is a small bird, which is slightly larger in size than an ordinary sparrow. Representatives of this species have bright plumage, shiny and bluish-green above, with small light specks on the wings and head. The bird emits an intermittent squeak like "tyip-tyip-tyip". This species includes six subspecies - sedentary and migratory;
• Striped kingfishers(lat. Аlcedо Еuryzona) - Asiatic birds with a white throat, dark blue head and tops of the wings, white or orange breasts, belly and undersides of the wings. This species includes two subspecies;
• Large blue kingfishers(lat. Аlcedо hеrсules) - Asian birds, which are the largest representatives of the genus. The bird is distinguished by a black beak, blue head, dark blue upper side of the wings, white throat, reddish chest, belly and underside of the wings;
• Blue-eared kingfishers(lat. Аlcedо mеninting) - Asian birds, resembling an ordinary kingfisher in appearance. The main difference is represented by blue plumage on the upper body and bright orange feathers on the lower body. This species includes six subspecies;
• Turquoise kingfisher(lat. Аlcedо quаdribrаhys) is an African bird with a black beak, blue head, dark blue upper side of the wings, white throat, reddish chest, belly and underside of the wings. This species includes two subspecies.

Also, by the specialists of the International Union of Ornithologists, the genus Alsedo includes the Small Blue Kingfishers (Alsedo coerulesens) and the Cobalt, or semi-collared kingfisher (Alsedo semitorquata).

Habitat, habitats

Common kingfisher subspecies are common in Eurasia, in northwestern Africa, in New Zealand and Indonesia, as well as in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Striped kingfishers are common in tropical humid jungles in Southeast Asia.

It is interesting! Almost all representatives of the genus Kingfisher are very common and inhabit the territory of Africa, southern parts of Europe and Asia, Australia and New Guinea, as well as the Solomon Islands. On the territory of our country, there are five species represented by several subspecies.

Large blue kingfishers inhabit rivers and higher humid jungles in Southeast Asia. The range of this species extends from the Himalayan Sikkim to the Chinese island of Hainan. Representatives of all subspecies of the Blue-eared Kingfisher inhabit areas near rivers and water bodies, preferring dense evergreen forests. Turquoise kingfishers inhabit the humid tropical jungle of Central and West Africa.

Kingfisher diet

A significant portion of the kingfisher's diet is represented by small fish, including the barbel, grayling, sculpin, char and minnow. Birds hunt for such prey from an ambush. Whenever possible, feathered fishermen willingly catch small crustaceans, insects, frogs and tadpoles... The kingfisher sits motionlessly on branches or blades of grass hanging over the water, or uses stones and breakwaters of the seashore as an ambush.

It is interesting! The caught prey is stunned by several powerful blows on the branches, after which the kingfisher intercepts it with its beak and swallows it head first. Fish bones and scales are regurgitated over time by the kingfisher.

The prey can be tracked down for a very long time, after which the bird quickly goes into the water and dives instantly. With the prey caught in its beak, the kingfisher returns to its burrow or to an observation post. Thanks to the energetic flapping of strong and fairly short wings, the bird can rise very quickly into the air.

Natural enemies

Representatives of the Kingfisher family, the Raksheiformes order and the Kingfisher genus have almost no enemies, but young and not fully matured birds can become easy enough prey for a falcon and a hawk. Hunters in some countries often hunt kingfishers and make stuffed animals out of their trophies. Despite the fact that kingfishers have almost no natural enemies, the total number of such birds is steadily decreasing, which is due to the deteriorating ecology of forests and water bodies.