All birds Kingfishers
Belted Kingfisher
Megaceryle alcyon
Here most of the year.
Recorded by Paul Marvin. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, via xeno-canto, trimmed and volume evened out.
Look for
- A big head with a crest, and a long, thick, pointed bill.
- Blue-gray on top and white below, with a wide blue-gray band across the chest.
- Females have a rusty orange band across the belly too. The female is more colorful than the male, and that's rare in birds.
A little about it
Belted Kingfishers are here most of the year. You'll see many more from September to February. In winter they need water that doesn't freeze, so they can keep fishing.
It sits on a perch over the water and watches. Or it hovers in the air, beating its wings fast. When it spots a fish, it dives in headfirst with its eyes shut and grabs the fish with its bill.
It eats mostly small fish. It also eats crayfish, frogs, tadpoles, and water bugs. Later it spits up the bones and scales in a little ball called a pellet.
To win a mate, the male brings the female a fish. Then the pair digs a long tunnel into a dirt bank by the water, with the nest at the end. The female lays 5 to 8 white eggs, and the young leave the nest about 4 weeks after they hatch.
Fun fact
Baby kingfishers have a special acid in their stomachs. It lets them digest fish bones, scales, and even shells. By the time they leave the nest, that changes, and they spit up those hard parts instead.
When it's here
- January: here
- February: here
- March: here
- April: here
- May: here
- June: here
- July: here
- August: here
- September: here
- October: here
- November: here
- December: here
Taller bars mean more sightings. Most often seen in November.
How big
11 to 14 inches. A bit bigger than a robin, with a big head.
Where to look
Creeks, rivers, ponds, and lakes. Look for it on a branch or a wire over the water. You may hear its loud, rattling call before you see it.
People have spotted it at Lake Stanley Draper, Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge, Lake Overholser.
Could it be something else?
Blue Jay
Also blue on top, with a crest. But a jay has a black necklace and white bars on its wings. You'll usually find a jay in trees or at a feeder. A kingfisher stays near water.
More photos
Where these facts come from
- Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation field guide
- Audubon Guide to North American Birds
- When it's here: Sightings shared on iNaturalist in the 8 counties, all years.