KINGFISHERS
During courtship, the
male will present a gift
of fish to the female, in
what is known as a ‘fish
pass’. Left: bright-blue
and orange plumage
makes these birds
easily identifiable.see the female coughing up then carefully
shredding a pellet over the nest floor. Over
time, she is able to fashion a scape in it.
I’ve not captured any footage of the pair
together, but this doesn’t surprise me.
Kingfishers are essentially solitary birds
and have to overcome a natural aversion
to one another in order to breed. I observe
an awkward undertone to their courtship,
which starts with the pair chasing each
other. Each time, their noisy and frantic
game ends near my artificial bank, which
I take as a good sign.
Next, the male puts on a spectacular aerial
display above the bank. He flies high in the
sky, lapping the lakes below in ascending
circles and peeping excitedly. Then, quite
suddenly, he turns and plummets towards
the female.
She rocks her head back and responds
with a crescendo of high-pitched staccato
peeps. He whizzes past, flying so close
that the feathers on her head flatten in
the slipstream. She loses her balance and
flutters her wings to regain her poise.
The male, clearly out of breath, lands near
the nest entrance, then disappears inside
peeping. We are separated by just 18mm
of plywood. I can hear him scurry up the
tunnel, croak inside the nest chamber,
then fly back out, peeping. Encouraged,
she ventures in to take a look.
The next time I see this pair, they are
sitting, side by side, a metre apart on a
sweeping willow branch. The female edges
towards the male, but he shuffles away,
preferring to maintain an equal distance.
Their bright-orange feet look comical as they
side-step quickly in tandem.
Eventually the male is cornered by a
protruding twig and the female shuffles
closer. Abruptly she launches at him with
her beak open. She demands a gift of a fish,
which is the usual conclusion of this species’
courtship. But this was too much too soon
and the male promptly flies off.
Later that day, I listen to them calling each
other across the water. The sound of theirBBC Wildlife 41