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Belted Kingfisher,
Megaceryle alcyon
Facts and Information
 Belted kingfishers are a beautiful blue bird with a white breast, a white throat and collar, and a distinctive "crested" head. You will see them on San Juan Island near wetlands and along the shore and eat fish, frogs, and other aquatic animals. To hunt, they hover over the water before diving straight in to catch a fish, the only small bird besides the tern who does.
These birds grow to a length of about 12", have long, narrow, pointed beaks, and largish heads that seem dis-proportionately large in comparison to the body. They built nests by burrowing or tunneling into sandy banks, the tunnel making an uphill slant the further in it goes. Digging is made easier by two toes that are "fused," forming a sort of shovel. Males and females share the job of egg sitting, and both feed the young by regurgitating fish.
Jump over to any of the other San Juan Island bird pages: American Bald Eagle, Common Raven, Coopers Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Double Crested Cormorant, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Sea Hawk, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Great Horned Owl, Wild Turkey, Trumpeter Swan.
Return to American Goldfinch from Belted Kingfisher, OR
Return to Simply San Juan.
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