(Illustration: James Tilley)
Let’s dive into the wonderful world of the Belted Kingfisher. These small but mighty water kings are hard to miss with their blue-gray plumage, white collar, and shaggy crest. Females don a rusty ring on their bellies, a rare example of a female bird sporting more colour than a male.
Kingfishers are shy, patient and incredibly agile. They’re similar in size to a blue jay, but a little scruffier and stockier. These diving waterbirds have been around a while — the oldest known kingfisher fossil dates back 2 million years.
You can find kingfishers perched along waterways, keeping their keen eyes on the water for small fish, or flying along a river piercing the silence with their loud rattling call. Kingfishers can spot their small prey from up to 100m away and dive up to 40km per hour!
Kingfishers have intriguing nesting habits. They dig burrows up to 1km long in soft ground along riverbeds, where they build their nests and lay their eggs. They dig these tunnels on an upward slope so rising waters won’t reach the baby birds and insulate the walls with bones of their prey. Human activity has actually helped in the expansion of the kingfisher’s breeding range by creating roads and gravel pits favorable for nest-building.
Though they are a more common sight in the warmer seasons, kingfishers can be found around Nova Scotia’s waters year-round. Next time you’re walking along the water’s edge and hear a rattle, look up! You may find one of these royal water birds perching, diving, or fluttering about.
