Common Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis
Also known as: Kingfisher, Choto Machranga, European Kingfisher
Habitat
Aquatic
Diet
VertFishScav
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
31 g
About This Species
A small, jewel-bright bird of slow rivers, canals and ponds, usually spotted as an electric-blue streak flying fast and low over the water, or perched motionless on a low branch scanning for fish before a sudden dive. It favours quiet, undisturbed stretches of water with overhanging perches and, on rivers or lakes with sandy or earthen banks, will excavate a nest burrow into the bank. Spring and summer are best for watching hunting and nesting behaviour, while birds can still be found along ice-free waters through the winter.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- It is easily disturbed while hunting and will fly off at the first sign of a close approach, so watching quietly from a distance with binoculars near a favoured perch usually gives the best views.
- Its bank nest burrows are vulnerable to trampling or collapse, and disturbing an active nest is an offence under wildlife law across much of its range, so keep well back from riverbanks with visible nest holes in spring and early summer.
- Avoiding disturbance to waterside vegetation and banks helps protect both feeding perches and nest sites for future seasons.
Seasonal Activity
2,377,596 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
Traits
- Diet
- VertFishScav
- Foraging
- Aquatic
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 31 g
Photo
(c) Mark Kilner, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.