King of the Fishers

Hey everyone,
So one of my favorite types of birds is the Kingfisher. There are a lot of them up in Washington and I would see one in particular almost everyday driving to school sitting on the power lines above a creek on the lookout for fish. There are over 100 different species of Kingfishers around the world and about 5 of them reside in the Pantanal:

The Amazon Kingfisher

The American Pygmy Kingfisher

(does anyone else desperately want one as a pet now? But we must resist that exotic pet trade!)

Green Kingfisher

Green and Rufous Kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher 

Photo Credit: Bob Siegel 

Kingfishers are in the order Coraciiformes and of the family Alcedines. Many people separate kingfishers into three categories based on DNA evidence: river kingfishers, who hunt mainly in rivers; water kingfishers, who hunt in lakes and marshes; and tree kingfishers, who mostly reside in the forest and eat more small mammals and insects. However there is some debate in if kingfishers should be separate into these three families or be considered a single family. 
 Kingfishers live from 6-10 years depending on the species and have a mostly solitary lifestyle. They come in a variety of colors and sizes but they all love fish! While fish is their main prey they also enjoy snacking on shrimp insects and tadpoles. Some animals find kingfishers very tasty, these include foxes, snakes and raccoons. 
As you can see from the picture a defining picture of all kingfishers are the long straight beaks that are also quite sharp. These beaks assist the kingfishers in dive-bombing into the water to spear fish near the surface to eat. 
Kingfishers normally reside in lowland freshwater areas (mmm sounds like the Pantanal!) as well as river estuaries. 
Kingfishers nest in tree hollows or holes dug into the ground along riverbanks. The kingfisher can dig small tunnels with their beaks and build a nest at the end of it. The giant kingfisher can dig tunnels up to 8 meters long! The female then lays about 4 eggs in her nest at the end of the tunnel or in a tree hollow. 
Lets hope that we will spot some of these colorful, interesting birds during our Pantanal Safari!

-Martell 

Sources:
http://animals.pawnation.com/kingfisher-5174.html
http://a-z-animals.com/animals/kingfisher/