Usually observed as a flash of blue and orange from a riverbank, most people are aware of Kingfishers, but few of us are familiar with the intricacies of their day-to-day lives.
With their long, dagger-like bills, bright blue plumage and characteristic fast, low flight over water, Common Kingfishers are instantly recognisable. The 90 or so species that belong to this colourful family have a cosmopolitan distribution and, in Spotlight Kingfishers, David Chandler celebrates their remarkable existence, studying their unique adaptations and their courtship, breeding and feeding habits. He also investigates historical threats to Kingfishers, considers their future, and offers practical advice on how to find and see these glorious birds.
Table of contents
1. Meet the Kingfisher
2. The Kingfisher family
3. Home and away: habitat and movements
4. Catching fish... and more
5. Finding and keeping a territory
6. A mate and a tunnel
7. From egg to adult
8. Life and death on the riverbank
9. Past imperfect: future tense?
10. How to see a Kingfisher