Crested Kingfisher

The crested kingfisher is a very large, stocky black and white kingfisher, usually 38–43 cm tall and 230–280 g. It has a large pointed black bill with a yellowish-white tip and a large, shaggy black-and-white barred crest, finely barred black and white upperparts, flanks barred grey and white, a white belly with a black-speckled breast band, and a white collar from the base of the bill to the back of the neck (Wikipedia, general species account).

Like the other Megaceryle species it is a specialist fish-eater and dives headfirst after prey. Nest sites are usually in forest by streams or ravines but can be as far as 1.5 km from water, with burrows dug in vertical sandy banks at least 2 m high. Birds living high in the Himalaya migrate altitudinally in winter to avoid frozen rivers (Wikipedia, general species account).