Belted Kingfisher
| Megaceryle alcyon | Order: Coraciiformes | Family: Alcedinidae (Kingfishers) |
This funky-looking bird, like a shaggy Blue Jay, is common wherever small fish may be close to the surface. The distinctive rattle call is easy to hear and draws our eyes to the bird. This is one of the very few species in which the female is more brightly colored than the male. Even other kingfishers do not share this feature.
If you want to learn a LOT about Belted Kingfishers, in 2014, I wrote a very long, detailed, blogpost: Belted Kingfisher: More than You Thought You Wanted To Know. And I focused on the peculiar habit of Belted Kingfisher nestlings huddling at Kingfishers in a Sitcom World.
The Belted Kingfisher has been proposed as the new mascot for the University of Illinois. As an alumnus of U. of I., I think this is a splendid idea. Check out the official Kingfisher Website for more information.
Laura's Published Works
Radio Programs
- American Birding Association's Bird of the Year for 2023: Belted Kingfisher! 2023
- Make the Belted Kingfisher the official mascot of the University of Illinois 2022
- Top Ten Reasons Seventy Is a Good Number 2021
- Book Review: Heather Wolf's Birding at the Bridge 2016
- The Cruelty of an April Wind 2016
- Kingfishers in a Sitcom World 2014
- Belted Kingfisher Part 2 2014
- Belted Kingfisher Part I 2014
- My First Book: The Little Golden Book Bird Stamps 2014
- Groundhog Day in Washington D.C. 2012
- Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival 2012
- Migration Update 2006
- Migration Update 2005
- Shoreline Conservation Tips 2004
- Fish and Birds (Re-recorded from 1987) 2000
- Why do birds have crests? And Baker's Blue Jay Hot Cereal 1990
- Migration Madness 1989
- Baby Bird Biology, Part II 1989
- How birds survive winter 1989
- This year's drought 1988
- Crows and other spring arrivals 1988
- State Birds 1988
- Bird-eating Fish 1988
- More arrivals: migration update 1987
- Fish and Birds (Original) 1987