The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as Eurasian Kingfisher or River Kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.
This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptions to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.
Read more about Common Kingfisher: Taxonomy, Description, Habitat and Distribution, Status
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or kingfisher:
“If we use common words on a great occasion, they are the more striking, because they are felt at once to have a particular meaning, like old banners, or everyday clothes, hung up in a sacred place.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“the mud
Flies from his hunching wings and beakmy heart,
The blue kingfisher dives on you in fire.”
—Robert Lowell (19171977)