Thursday, September 3, 2015

Belted Kingfishers Becoming More Visible Now

I have been noticing an uptick in the numbers of belted kingfishers lately. It seems every spot along the Catawba River, every farm pond, or retention pond has a kingfisher now. Often there are two birds quarreling back and forth with their raucous rattling. Kingfishers are with us year-round but I suspect the breeding birds move out and northern birds take their places for the winter months. The turnover is taking place right now.


The bird in the photo above is a female, easily recognized by the rust-colored markings on the belly and flanks. Generally males are the more colorful gender in the bird world. In our area the kingfisher is an exception. Males lack the rust-colored plumage.
Belted Kingfisher by John Ennis

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love kingfishers! I frequently see one sitting on a wire along Highway 29 in Concord beside the bridge over Coddle Creek. Another one works a marshy pond with cattails at Crossroads Church on George Liles Blvd. They are so beautiful!

I enjoy your wonderful articles and so do my elderly parents.