American Belted Kingfisher Habitats: Blue-Slate Body, Burrow, White Egg

Summary: North American belted kingfisher habitats seasonally north and south of, year-round in, the United States have blue-slate bodies, burrows and white eggs.

belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) in York River State Park, Virginia Peninsula, southeastern Virginia; Wednesday, June 27, 2012: Virginia State Parks (vastateparksstaff), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

North American belted kingfisher habitats activate cultivators through Alcedinidae family insect- and snake-controlling appetites and naturalists through distribution ranges seasonally in Canada, Caribbean America and Mexico and year-round in the United States.

The belted kingfisher bears its common name because of a dark breast-band and one white neck-collar and the scientific name Megaceryle alcyon (big mythical bird-like kingfisher). Agro-industry, construction, drought, floods, pollution, predation, recreation, tourism and urbanization challenge belted kingfishers, described in 1758 by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1787). Monogamous mating and shared responsibilities for burrowing nests, incubating eggs, locating prey and tending nestlings draw belted kingfishers from solitary into coupled and familial life cycles.

Mysterious lifespans expect brackish, fresh or marine, calm, clean, clear, smooth waters no deeper than 23.62 inches (60 centimeters), encircled by exposed earth and open woodlands.

March through July facilitate brooding one 5- to 14-egg clutch, followed by another if the first fails, 1 to 3 feet (30.48 to 91.44 centimeters) underground.

Parents-to-be gut 3- to 15-foot- (0.91- to 4.57-meter-) long, 3.5- to 4-inch- (8.89- to 10.16-centimeter-) wide, 3- to 3.5-inch- (7.62- to 8.89-centimeter-) high burrows into banks. Curved or uncurved, upward-sloping burrows honed within 21 days have 6- to 7-inch- (15.24- to 17.78-centimeter-) high, 10- to 12-inch- (25.4- to 30.48-centimeter-) diameter egg chambers. Parents-to-be initiate 22- to 24-day incubations of glossy, 1.18- to 1.46-inch (30- to 37-millimeter) by 0.98- to 1.14-inch (25- to 29-millimeter), smooth, somewhat elliptical, white eggs.

Falcons, hawks, mink, people, raccoons, skunks and snakes jeopardize North American belted kingfisher habitats seasonally north and south of, and year-round within, the United States' borders.

Helpless, naked hatchlings without beak-opening gape flanges know black bills, feather-filled sheaths, pink mouths and red skin while they keep eyes closed the first two weeks.

Fathers on day duty from nearby roosting burrows and mothers on night duty in egg chambers and nest hollows look after nestlings 30 to 35 days. Nestlings manage feather quills within the first week and feathers from broken sheaths as 17- to 18-day-olds and move away from nests as 30- to 35-day-olds. Adults need amphibians, berries, insects, mice and reptiles and bluegill, carp, crayfish, croakers, flounder, goldfish, minnows, mussels, needlefish, perch, pike, salmon, sculpins, sticklebacks, suckers and trout.

North American belted kingfisher habitats up to 8,202.1 feet (2,500 meters) above sea level offer winter-coldest temperatures at minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 31.66 degrees Celsius).

Headfirst dives into fish-filled riffle edges and maximum 0.62-mile (one-kilometer) fishing offshore, 4.97-mile (eight-kilometer) forages from nests and 0.06-mile (990.54-meter) hovers promote belted kingfisher life cycles.

One dark breast-band, one blue breast-band with one chestnut belly-band and one blue breast-band respectively quicken double-crested juvenile, prominent-crested mature female and shaggy-crested mature male identifications. Blue- and white-barred tails, blue-gray large heads, blue-slate upper-parts, dark eyes, dark, long, powerful, thick bills and white collars reveal adult, chestnut-flanked females and white-bellied males. Two- to three-beat glides on 18.89- to 22.84-inch (48- to 58-centimeter) wingspans suggest 5.29- to 6.17-ounce (150- to 175-grams), 11.02- to 13.78-inch (28- to 35-centimeter) adults.

North American belted kingfisher habitats tender harsh, mechanical rattles during flights or disturbances or from perches, screams during breeding or threats and trill-like warbles during breeding.

illustration of eggs of belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) under scientific synonym of Ceryle alcyon; Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio, Plate XLVII, figure 2, opp. page 158: Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) in York River State Park, Virginia Peninsula, southeastern Virginia; Wednesday, June 27, 2012: Virginia State Parks (vastateparksstaff), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/vastateparksstaff/7514841530/

illustration of eggs of belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) under scientific synonym of Ceryle alcyon; Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio, Plate XLVII, figure 2, opp. page 158: Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34908273

For further information:

Baicich, Paul J.; and Harrison, Colin J.O. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides, 2005.

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volumes 8-11, Birds I-IV, edited by Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Jones, Howard. 1886. Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. Illustrations by Mrs. N.E. Jones. Vol. II. Circleville OH: s.n. (sine nomine).
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34908243

Linnaeus, Carl. 1758. "4. Vultur aura." Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 86-87. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726991

Peterson, Alan P., M.D. "Accipiter cooperii (Bonaparte) 1828." Zoonomen: Zoological Nomenclature Resource > Birds of the World -- Current Valid Scientific Avian Names > Coraciiformes > Alcedinidae > Megaceryle.
Available @ http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/cora.html