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hile walking along
Buffalo Creek near my home
in southwestern Virginia, I
f lushed a bird from the trees along the
bank. The startled bird took off so fast
that all I caught was a glimpse of slate
blue and white streaking through the
treetops. My eyes aren’t what they used
to be, but I didn’t have to see the scruffy
crest and dagger-like bill to identify this
bird. His hasty departure and raucous,
mechanical rattle call echoing down the
creek’s corridor told me this was the
only kingfisher that lives in our area
— the Belted Kingfisher.
This f lighty species is often heard
before it is seen. The slightest distur-
bance is enough to make the shy bird
f ly from its perch and sound the alarm
as it f lashes downstream, sometimes
f lying so low that it almost seems to
touch the water’s surface. By listening,
you can learn the range of the individ-
ual bird’s territory. A kingfisher’s
f light path often traces the waterway,
so if you follow the water’s course,
chances are the bird will call again as
you get closer, only to f ly farther
downstream before calling again.
Upon reaching the end of its fishing
territory, which averages about
six-tenths of a mile, the fisher bird will
quietly loop back to the beginning.
A bird more leery of humans than
the Belted Kingfisher would be hard to
find. Its penchant for secrecy and
distrust of people rivals that of any bird
ever hunted for meat or feathers.
Perhaps its shyness is an asset, especially
when people who spot it are motivated
to protect fish stocks.
In the 1897 book Bird Life: A Guide
to the Study of our Common Birds,
ornithologist and field-guide pioneer
Frank Chapman wrote: “The King-
fisher is generally branded a fish thief
and accounted a fair mark for every
man with a gun, and were it not for his
discretion in judging distances and
knowing just when to f ly, he would
long ago have disappeared from the
haunts of man...” In 1918, the Migra-
tory Bird Treaty Act made it illegal to
harm migratory birds, including the
Belted Kingfisher, but a mid-1940s
report said that kingfishers were stillbeing
killed
and
trapped at a
private hatchery in Michigan.
Fast forward to today, and
the kingfisher is one of the most
widespread land birds in North
America, breeding from Alaska to
Labrador and south to Florida, Texas,
and California. Our mild winters in
southwest Virginia provide favorable
conditions for this avian angler to stay
in place for the winter; however, even
in temperate climates, a severe winter
can close waterways with ice and wipe
out a generation of kingfishers. Those
that migrate f ly south until they can
find open water for fishing. Some
individuals overwinter as far south as
the Caribbean islands and northern
South America.The bird’s earthy colors act as
camouf lage, blending into the mottled
shadows of the woods and streams
where it lives and hunts. To a potential
overhead predator, such as a Cooper’s or
Sharp-shinned Hawk, the kingfisher’s
blue back and wings seem to blur and
become part of the water below. A white
neck ring and breast stand out against
the blue-gray body plumage, and a tiny
white spot over each eye can be seen
even from a distance. Males have a wide
blue band across the breast; females have
an additional rusty band that extends
down their flanks. In both sexes, thewings are tipped with white, and tail
feathers are barred with white.WHY THE RED BELT?
Ornithologists have long puzzled over
why the female sports a rufous belt
crossing her breast below the blue band
while the male does not. Typically in
birds, males are more colorful than
females, but not so in the Belted
Kingfisher. The shorthand explanation
for differences in plumages — “same
roles, same colors; different roles,
different colors” — does not seem to fit
in this case. Belted Kingfishers
cooperate with housekeeping chores
and the rearing of their young. So then,
if both sexes play much the same roles,
why the red band on the female?
One theory is that the flashy band
makes it easy for the sexes of this wary
and extremely territorial species to
recognize each other. Biologist Michael
Hamas speculated in the reference series
Birds of North America, No. 84 (2009),
that the color and belts play a role in
sexual recognition.
While males sometimes remain in
the northern latitudes to keep an eye on
a prime nesting site, which is vital to
their nesting success, females migrate
south for the winter. In the spring, they
return to the waiting males. According
to Hamas, glimpsing a f lash of the
female’s rufous belt would be a signal to
welcome her rather than to expend
energy chasing her off. A credible
theory, but the jury is still out on this
mystery. (For more, see BirdWatching’s
2011 article “Mysteries of the King-
fisher’s Belt,” available at w w w.
Ray BirdWatchingDaily.com.)
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A brilliant example of
form following
function, the Belted
Kingfisher is uniquely
equipped for a
livelihood dependent
on catching fish.