Belted Kingfisher

The Belted Kingfisher is a stocky, medium-sized water kingfisher with a large head, shaggy crest, and long, heavy, pointed bill. It has a slate-blue back and head, a white collar, and a blue breast band. Females feature an additional rusty belly band. They are famous for their loud, rattling calls and hovering flight over water before plunging headfirst to catch fish.

Striking slate-blue or bluish-gray background with distinct black and white horizontal barring along the edges and a prominent white tip.

Pennaceous vane structure with tightly interlocked barbs and barbules, intact condition.

Central rachis is slender, white to light gray, slightly curved, with dense barbs extending at a uniform angle.

Smooth, firm, and matte texture with rigid vane structure.

Tail rectrix, determined by the stiff, symmetrical vanes and specific black-and-white barred pattern typical of kingfisher tail feathers.

Distinctive slate-blue coloration combined with bold black-and-white barring and a clean white tip on a stiff tail feather.

Near streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and marine coasts where clear water allows spotting of small fish.

Breeds across most of North America, wintering in the southern US, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Acts as an important apex aquatic predator for small fish populations and serves as an ecological indicator of clean, healthy waterways.

Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana), which is much smaller and lacks the prominent blue-gray crest and extensive barring.

Unlike many songbirds, female Belted Kingfishers are more brightly colored than males, displaying an extra chestnut belly band.

In Native American folklore, the kingfisher often symbolizes prosperity, patience, and safe passage over water.

Look near bodies of water, listen for the mechanical rattle call, and check riverbanks and perches for dropped feathers during the molting season.

Good condition with minor wear at the very edge of the white tip.