Common kingfisher

Alcedo atthis · The common kingfisher is a small, brightly colored kingfisher widely distributed across Eurasia and North Africa.

Also called Eurasian kingfisher, River kingfisher, European Kingfisher.

Common kingfisher
Photo: Artemy Voikhansky, CC BY-SA 4.0
Common kingfisher
Photo: Prasan Shrestha, CC BY-SA 4.0
Common kingfisher
Photo: Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderCoraciiformes
FamilyAlcedinidae
GenusAlcedo
SpeciesAlcedo atthis

Where it lives

Clear streams and lakes from Europe and North Africa across Asia to Indonesia.

Fun facts

  • It sees underwater with binocular vision, but switches to monocular vision once back in the air.
  • A common kingfisher must eat about 60% of its own body weight in food every single day.
  • Females lay two to ten glossy white eggs in a riverbank burrow, each weighing about 4.3 grams.
  • Some Siberian kingfishers fly at night and travel at least 3,000 km to reach their wintering grounds.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).