BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

42 BBC Wildlife

KINGFISHERS

whistling ‘peep’ pinging back and forth

is sweetly hypnotic. The male flies down

to catch a fish. The female fluffs up her

feathers to impress him, and then flirts

with a begging ‘chi-chi-chi’ call.

He lands and offers her his catch,

headfirst. She accepts this gift with

quivering wings. As she gulps it down,

he stands bolt upright, his tail fanned

and his sharp beak pointing skywards

in a posture similar to his aggressive

stance. Known as the ‘fish pass,’ this

marks a monumental stage in their

relationship, when their bond is

cemented. Nevertheless, it takes several

days and several more fish passes before

he hovers over her and eventually lowers

to mate. I notice that he crudely grasps

the feathers above her eye with his beak

in order to keep balance.

Afterwards, he catches another fish.

Sheshufflesover,wingstremblingand

voice begging. But he

gobbles the fish down

whole. Feeling a pang

on her behalf at this

post-coital snub, it

amuses me when she

pushes him off the

branch with her beak.

LYING LOW

A few days later, I

switch on the monitor

linked to cameras

inside the nest to find

that one beautiful,

shiny white egg has been laid. Kingfishers

lay every 24 hours and so I settle in my

hide well before dawn the next day. There

is a rustle as she waddles up the tunnel,

feeling her way through the darkness with

her beak. She locates her egg with a gentle

tap before settling down on it. I hold my

breath – if I have timed this correctly, she

is about to lay her second egg.

Her tail pumps up and down as she

labours for an hour. Then, she stands

and scuffles out of the nest, croaking.

Two eggs now sit side by side in the

nest. It is hard to describe my feelings

at having been just a metre away from a

laying kingfisher. She goes on to lay seven

pristine eggs, each as precious as pearls,

and I sit alongside her for six of them.

COLD TEMPERATURES

Kingfishers struggle to hunt in freezing

conditions and can’t in frozen water.

Chicks are vulnerable in cold snaps, where

parents will struggle to keep them warm.

HEAVY RAINFALL

During prolonged periods of rain,

waterways flood, fish can disperse and

water visibility can be poor. In these

conditions, parents struggle to provide

food for their young and rising water

levels can result in flooded nest sites,

where chicks tragically drown.

DROUGHT

Drought conditions are increasingly

problematic for kingfishers. Historic

waterways dry up, reducing the food

source. Over extraction of water by

industry exacerbates this.

POLLUTION

Chemical and biological pollution

of rivers by industry and agriculture

aects the availability of fish in the

water, making long stretches of

waterways uninhabitable.

PREDATORS

Kingfishers have many predators –

including cats, rats, stoats, weasels,

sparrowhawks and mink – and are

particularly vulnerable at nesting time.

Kingfishers may even kill each other,

often by drowning, in territorial spats.

DISTURBANCE BY HUMANS

Kingfisher nests are unintentionally

destroyed when landowners maintain

waterways. These birds are early nesters

and maintenance should be undertaken

outside the breeding season, if possible.

We a t h e r, p o l u t i o n & p re d a t i o n

We highlight the many threats encountered by kingshers.

Their beaks lock

and they twist and

turn their heads,

as though duelling

with swords.