Common Kingfisher

The common kingfisher is a small, sparrow-sized bird with the typical short-tailed, dumpy, big-headed, long-billed kingfisher shape. It is about 16cm long with a wingspan of about 25cm and a weight of 34–46g. It has green-blue upperparts with a pale azure back and rump, rufous patches by the bill and ear, a white neck blaze and throat, and rufous underparts. The bill is black, and the female's lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. Juveniles are duller and greener (Wikipedia, general species account).

It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations for seeing prey underwater. It lays glossy white eggs in a nest at the end of a burrow dug into a riverbank. Seven subspecies are recognised across its wide range in Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident over much of its range but leaves areas where rivers freeze in winter (Wikipedia, general species account).