Bird of the week: The Kingfisher

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The Eurasian kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is one of Britain’s most colourful and popular birds.

Kingfishers hunt fish, tadpoles and aquatic insects and are therefore found by rivers and lakes.

Despite their colourful appearance – bright blue and orange – they are not actually easy to spot. They’re quite small – not much larger than a sparrow – with a short tail and very long bill. The sexes look pretty much alike but you can tell them apart by having a close look at their bills: the female’s lower beak is orange (as if she had put on some lipstick!) and the male’s is all black.

Kingfishers are very territorial and you will only ever see more than one at a time during the breeding season – if you’re lucky that is.

The kingfisher is a so-called ‘schedule 1’-bird, protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Thich means that unless you’ve got a licence, you mustn’t go near a nesting site or disturb the birds in any way.

So if you are lucky enough to see a kingfisher, most likely perched on a branch or log near the water, bobbing its head up and down before diving and within seconds emerging again with a fish, keep your distance and enjoy this magical experience. Or you might just notice an electric blue flash across the water, come and gone before you realise what you’ve just seen.

Let me share some of my favourite kingfisher photos with you – they are truly stunning birds and I hope you’ll get to see one yourself!