Things you need to know about KINGFISHERS!

Thousands of hours have been spent, along waterways hoping to see the flash of electric blue that can only mean one thing, a kingfisher. These birds are probably the most colourful in the UK and way up there in the worlds prettiest of birds. They are found all across Europe, some parts of northern Africa, south and central asia and as far east as the Solomon islands near Australia.
With a wingspan of 10 inches and weighing around 37grams, kingfishers are about the same size as a house sparrow. Both sexes have mottled blue heads, wings and tails, orange cheeks and undersides and metallic aqua blue rumps. They have a white chin and white ear patches and it is the colour of their beaks that allows adult birds to be sexed from a distance. Males have all black beaks whilst the females have orange most of the way along their lower mandible.
It is very rare to see a kingfisher away from water where they are mostly found along freshwater streams, cannals, slow flowing rivers and lakes. They can also be seen, especially in the colder months when freshwater is more likely to freeze, around coastal estuaries, marshland and harbours. As their name alludes a lot of their diet is made up of small fish which they usually catch by diving from a branch and snatching from the water. They can sometimes also hover above the water and then dive in if there are no suitable perches nearby. Once they have grabbed their prey, they then bring it back to a perch, and bash it on the head to stun it before swallowing it whole, almost always head first. Alongside fish, they will also take newts and tadpoles and occasionally aquatic invertebrates. They are very efficient hunters successfully catching more than 50% of the time when they dive from a perch, although this does drop to just 20percent when they dive from a hovering position. Kingfishers need to eat around 60% of their own bodyweight every day, so they are quite territorial over their stretch of water, especially before winter when feeding up is even more important. To help them with being accurate when they plunge into the water, kingfishers bob their heads to gauge the depth and they have a long, narrow and pointed bill. Scientists in Japan found this bill to be so aerodynamic they actually based the design for the front of their high speed bullet trains on the shape of a kingfishers head.
When it comes to nesting, kingfishers are very secretive. They begin to court one another by presenting gifts of food from February onwards and once a pair is formed, both birds will start to dig a nesting hole. This consists of a tunnel around 60cm deep into a sandy bank, usually overhanging water. No nesting material is used and once the tunnel is complete the female will lay between 5 and 8 glossy white eggs that measure just under an inch in length. These are incubated by both parents for 19 to 21 days until they hatch. At first the chicks are featherless and blind but with both parents bringing a ready supply of fish throughout daylight hours, the chicks can grow really fast, sometimes being ready to fledge at just 24 days old. If there isn’t much food around this fledging can be slowed down and in some cases it takes the chicks as much as 37 days to fledge. For the young birds it is very important to be ready once they leave the nest as their parents will only feed them for four days afterwards before they not only stop feeding them, but also chase them out of their territory. For the adults, time is of the essence and they will hurriedly get down to laying the next batch of eggs. Each year a pair of kingfishers will raise 2 or 3 clutches of young.
#kingfisher #birds #nature
Some of the footage used in this video was obtained using creative commons licences, the originals and their licence details can be found at:

[itsakingfisher]

As a kingfisher, this is a nice detailed video about me

[radders]

Who needs the BBC (and the redicolous tv tax) when you can have wildlife shows from a superb bloke who is obviously very keen on his hobby? I bloody love this channel!!!

[benpatsy]

As a carp angler, I love it when kingfishers perch on my rods overlooking the water.

[bobpratt]

Very interesting, you have just increased my knowledge of kingfishers by 100%, many thanks.

[good_old_s_s]

I, m 56 and i saw a Kingfisher for the very first time bout 6 weeks ago. 🎉😍😁

I started going for walks at a lake near to where i live.One afternoon i saw something fly at very high speed.To my joyous surprise, a few seconds later, i saw the Kingfisher on a branch.Totally excited, i got out my Handy and took a few 📷s, then i managed to get a short Video of it!.All in all the sighting lasted for about 45 seconds, i was so chuffed, thrilled, i felt like i`d seen The Loch Ness Monster!.😂

The quality of the 📷s and Video aint top, as the Kingfisher was a bit to far away, but it`s really inspired me to get better ones and it`s really got me interested to look out for other birds, animals. 😊

[stuartwoodburn]

You are great! You make watching bird exciting thank you for showing everyone how wonderful nature is.

[nataliemay]

I'm in Australia, and we get them, too. I just saw one this morning, in fact. I never realised how small they actually were. But their blue is striking. So beautiful. 💙

[oneandonlyjaybee]

Their call may not be that tuneful, but it never fails to excite me, either when I'm set up to photograph them or taking a walk with my sons by a local river. They are as exciting to glimpse now as when I first saw one when I was a young child, it never diminishes. It's crazy how many people pass by them every day. When I'm pointing them out to my children and someone asks what we're looking at, they always seem surprised when I tell them it's s kingfisher, they'll often say they've been walking there every day for years but never seen one. So many people are either walking dogs which run ahead and scare them away, have headphones in don't hear them or generally just aren't observant.

[MAJ]

I fly fish for trout and have done for many years. About a decade ago I was sitting still and quietly just watching the water from the undergrowth about to slip into the water. Out of the blue ('scuse the pun!), a stunning kingfisher landed on the tip of my outstretched rod. I just froze. It sat there for an easy 20 seconds or more and I was absolutely mesmerised by the thing. I didn't even draw breath until it flew off. The river I was fishing is up in the NE and I see them about 30% of the times I'm out, particularly in one section. Stunning birds. I am very privileged to have had this happen to me.

[jlau-piegesvideos]

Magnifiques images de Martin pêcheur. Bravo pour cette vidéo et merci pour le partage !

[williamrobinson]

Outstanding. It takes patience and skill to do this stuff and you clearly have both in abundance. Brilliant wildlife photography. I was v taken with the fact of the Japanese train design being based on the kingfishers head, and the whole film is a mini masterpiece! Nice one Liam. ⭐🎥⭐👍

[peteryoung]

I love it, when I see a kingfisher, which is not very often. Thank you for another informative video.

[charlesstewart]

It's good to see you still informing the masses on ALMOST everything they need to get started on the road to loving a little more of wildlife that's surrounding them but not seen. Until our man here.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👌🏻😃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[victoriapayne]

How lovely for that lady - it’s quite exciting when you see your first kingfisher.

[johnsweet]

Love you're videos, loverly information about these amazing birds

[ashstubbings]

I'm very fortunate to see a Kingfisher or a pair of Kingfishers on a daily basis. I live about 20 mins away from a stretch of water that has been frequented by these wonderful birds for a number of years!

[doriskarloff]

beautiful presentation. I think I've only seen 4 kingfishers in my entire life - but it's such a prize when you spot one!

[dawnrowlands]

Such a beautiful bird. I went to college in Bath and it was quite common to see kingfishers from Pulteney Bridge and walking along by the river. It was many (many) moons ago lol, but a lovely way to spend a lunch break on a nice day. I've also spotted them walking along the canal in Llanymynech (Wales) this summer, best regards.

[jeffallinson]

Great Video Liam, thank you. I have only seen a Kingfisher once and I was instantly struck with how beautiful it was.

[simondo]

Some really good footage there. I appreciate how many hours you must have spent to capture the birds. As I said in my last comment, I am obsessed with seeing kingfishers.
I try to pass by the river most days just to catch a glimpse of that electric blue in flight.
I have been really fortunate to see many, but they can whizz by in a moment. Next spring I hope to discover where they are nesting so that I see them, secretly so as not to disturb them, and get my daily fix. I believe their territories can span from between one and five kilometers!
Thanks again, I love your factual content also. Simon