Kingfishers are Shaped Like Footballs

Charles and Bob kick off 2022 with a very unique bird. Hopefully we will inspire you to take a walk by your favorite stream or river to see a kingfisher.

Related episodes: What It’s Like to be a Bird with David Sibley

Our sources for this episode include:

• Fun Facts About Kingfishers
• Ten Things about the Belted Kingfisher
• Aerial Ramming, a Burrow Excavation Behavior by Belted Kingfishers, with a Review of its Occurrence among the Alcedinidae by Hendricks et al., 2013
• The Eastern Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle Alcyon Alcyon (Linnaeus), in Relation to Fish Management by Salyer and Lagler, 1949
• Attempted predation of a diurnally active Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum) by a Belted Kingfisher
• Predation of a Western Water Shrew (Sorex navigator) by a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
• North American River Otters Followed by Piscivorous Birds, and a River Otter Parental Distraction Display