Colourful Kingfisher
Anyone on a riverside walk who has caught the flash of electric blue from a Kingfisher will appreciate what a marvellous sight it is...
The flash of electric blue on a riverside walk is a marvellous sight for any birder
Ilowered my binoculars and quickly placed my hands back into the warm depths of my fleece-lined pockets. Winter birding on an estuary can be rewarding, but it can also be very cold. It can also be a bit colourless. Grey skies above the grey water, and the cloud-filtered sunlight that does get through is still bright enough to reflect off the exposed, grey-brown expanses of wet mud, bleaching out any colour in the hundreds of waders that are probing the mud in front of me. But not even the general greyness can mute the colours of the next bird I see.
A short, sharp, high-pitched call followed by a searing bolt of electric blue, zipping arrow-like over the grey mud – a Kingfisher, the exotic gem of winter estuary birding.
Kingfishers are tiny birds, about the size of a House Sparrow, and in the wide open space of an estuary they look even smaller. Any other bird would be lost in the landscape, but not this one. The colours are beautiful and that blue on their back is so vibrant that it just can’t be dulled.
My hands are quickly out of my pockets and on to my binoculars, and I follow the bullet-like flight of the bird before it smoothly arcs around and over a shallow area of water, it hovers momentarily and then dives into the brackish water below, remerging with a small fish clamped tight in its bill. The straight flight resumes, this time over the main channel of water, heading away from me towards the far side of the estuary.
My hands are still cold, but the sudden splash of colour has certainly warmed up my enthusiasm once again!
Within continental Europe, many Kingfishers migrate during the winter months, the cold and the ice forcing them to move from their breeding grounds. Some of these travel long distances, with southern Spain being a popular destination. But others travel relatively
short distances, often wintering on the coast. In Britain, where the winters are much milder than in continental Europe, most of our birds are resident, but there are some that do move, heading to the coast and to the estuaries, where the risk of the water icing up is almost nonexistent.
We don’t tend to think of the Kingfisher as being a coastal bird in Britain, but now, in the winter, there are a few that are, and with a bit of luck you can find one. I can remember the first time I noticed one at the seaside – it was a still day and the tide was almost fully out. Jutting out from the sand, and into the sea were several concrete groynes; and sitting out on one of these Bladderwrack-covered structures was a Kingfisher. It was sat there gazing down at a large open rock pool that had been created by the receding tide, I watched it for several minutes, surprised to find a Kingfisher indulging in a bit of rock pooling, and in that time the bird didn’t move once.
Halcyon days, halcyon bird
I was soon distracted by some Gannets plunge-diving far out to sea and, as is typical of these things, the Kingfisher had vanished when I returned my gaze to where it had been sitting. Despite being disappointed that it had gone, it did make me think how often you get to switch from watching a Kingfisher to watching Gannets. Since then, I have found Kingfisher a few times at the seaside, always on calm days though, when the sea is flat and glass-like. If there are waves and the water is churned up, you are unlikely to see them by the sea. But if it is one of those ‘halcyon days’, look out for the ‘halcyon bird’ on anywhere that gives it a perch overlooking the water.
Groynes, jetties, the structure of piers and even boats moored in a harbor can all be used by these small fishers, so they are always worth checking out if you are partaking in some seaside birding.
Estuaries are a better bet for finding Kingfishers in the winter, especially in places where the actions of the tide create areas of shallow water. It is here that you are likely to find the Kingfisher practising its hovering technique. The lack of perches means that for the bird to see what is going on in the water below, it has to hang in the air, beating its wings to keep itself steady, in a manner very much like the
ESTUARIES ARE A BETTER BET FOR FINDING KINGFISHERS IN THE WINTER, ESPECIALLY IN PLACES WHERE THE ACTIONS OF THE TIDE CREATE AREAS OF SHALLOW WATER...
Kestrel employs over grassland.
A hovering Kingfisher is a beautiful sight and a real burst of colour, guaranteed to brighten up any winter’s day birding, on an estuary or not.
Winter hazards
The birds can, of course, still be found inland during the winter; rivers, streams, large ponds and gravel pits are all great places to see them, and most of our Kingfishers will remain in these habitats throughout the year. Wherever they are, though, they are birds that are very vulnerable to cold weather. Being small, they have a larger body surface area to body volume ratio, and this means that they lose body heat much more rapidly than larger birds do. This in turn means that they have to proportionally eat more food than larger birds do to be able to sustain themselves, particularly in colder weather. It is estimated that a Kingfisher must consume 60% of its bodyweight daily to survive.
If there is a cold snap and temperatures plunge, then they also face the other problem of the water freezing up. Kingfishers prefer to fish in still or slow-moving waters, which provide the bird with the best visibility conditions. But it is these waters that are most likely to freeze up if the thermometer drops below zero.
A coating of ice, even thin ice, is an impenetrable barrier for the Kingfisher. If the water in their home area freezes up, then they have to move, but Kingfishers are highly territorial at all times of the year, so if they do move they have to do so to an area of water that doesn’t already have a Kingfisher in residence. This is when they can start to turn up on our estuaries and coasts.
The winter, then, can be a challenging time for Kingfishers, and many succumb to the cold and lack of food during this period. For us, at this time of the year, a Kingfisher fishing on an estuary or perching over a rock pool is a welcome splash of colour, but for the bird, it is all about survival.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT A KINGFISHER MUST CONSUME 60% OF ITS BODYWEIGHT DAILY TO SUSTAIN ITSELF...
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