Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The KINGfisher that Keeps on Impressing

This wasn't the first time I'd seen a Belted Kingfisher, but it was the first time I had observed one in action. I photographed this male at the Viera Wetlands, in Brevard County, Florida. (Click images to enlarge.)
What I lack in lens power, I can sometimes overcome with my focus and ability to track a subject even when I can't see what's happening. And this always lends itself to surprises. But before I tell you more about this particular kingfisher, let me fast forward to two days later and a well-timed classroom presentation, "Kingfishers and their Allies", at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival.
Meet Jeff Gordon, the presenter, bird tour leader, consultant, blogger and personable birding expert. As a fellow blogger, I know Jeff through the Nature Blog Network and have enjoyed his help with bird ID's on several occasions. It was a special treat for me to meet him in person at the festival, along with his wife, Liz.

Below is Jeff's photo of a female Belted Kingfisher, the more colorful gender in this species. The male lacks the rufous belly band.
Female Belted Kingfisher by Jeff Gordon

Besides introducing me to a whole class of beautiful kingfishers and related birds from around the world, Jeff's presentation was packed with fun facts and images of the Belted Kingfisher. As if burrowing in dirt banks to create a nest cavity for their young isn't curious enough, two more bits of information about these birds stood out for me--the interesting structure of their feet and their special style of preparing a meal.
Kingfishers have small, weak feet designed only for perching, similar in function to those of hummingbirds. In addition their toes have a curious syndactyl arrangement, a term meaning fused or webbed. A kingfisher's middle and outer toes are partially fused as shown in the sketch above in the lower right corner. Syndactyl toes, strong, coarse bills, and short, stocky necks are key body characteristics for this class of birds.The Belted Kingfisher is a specialized plunge diver whose primary food is fish. Spotting prey from a high perch, he dives and plunges to capture prey, sometimes hovering prior to the plunge. He then carries his prey to a perch. The size of the fish doesn't seem to matter. Besides having special enzymes in his throat to begin digestion as he swallows, the kingfisher pounds his prey against the perch, "Blam, blam, blam!", as Jeff so aptly put it, a behavior that both kills the prey and 'tenderizes' it for swallowing.Armed with all this new information, I returned to Tennessee and, for the first time, browsed through my kingfisher images. What a surprise. While following this male with my lens, hoping to capture some sort of sketchable image, I had no idea that I had witnessed a dive, nor that my subject had resurfaced with a fish. And look. There it is, just as Jeff described it. Blam, blam, blam!
And then it settled on me, the height of this kingfisher's perch, the speed with which he descended. To spot a fish moving underwater, dive with precision, plunge and come up with a fish, all in a matter of seconds--my awe of the Belted Kingfisher magnified in leaps.

One more fun tid bit--kingfishers teach their young to dive. When fledglings are ready to fish, parents drop dead fish in the water for their young to practice retrieving! Wouldn't that be a fun event to witness!

The Belted Kingfisher was one of the many species that I enjoyed while visiting the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands with guide, photographer and Master Naturalist, Charlie Corbeil during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival.

Visit Jeff Gordon's blog and Flickr Albums to read more about Jeff's activities and view his excellent photography.

David McCree's festival reports at Blog the Beach will give you lots more news about the 2010 festival activities. Also visit Space Coast Eco for informative descriptions of key natural areas and field trips, and Space Coast Beach Buzz and FloridaBeachBasics for more Brevard County visitor and wildlife information.
To view all my posts about the fun I had while visiting Brevard County's Space Coast Birds and the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, click here.
And if you aren't familiar with the Nature Blog Network, visit the link to find the Top List in nature blogging.

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, Vickie! I've only ever seen one kingfisher and it was so quick, I wasn't sure it was a kingfisher. Having seen photos over the years, I am convinced that's what it was.

    I love your sketch! May I inquire what type of sketchbook you are using? The paper looks very soft (or that may just be your style!).

    p.s. the word verification was blammona! How's that for coincidence?!!

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  2. Excellent post Vickie! Thanks for sharing what you learned. I have never gotten a decent photo of a Kingfisher. They're so hinky, I've never goten close enough.

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  3. Vickie--

    Thanks for posting this. Really nice meeting you in Florida and getting to talk kingfishers a little bit. I'm very much looking forward to actually getting out in the field together in West Virginia.

    Jeff

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  4. Delighted to see those 2,000 photos you took turtned out to be so useful! As always, beautiful art and practical information - a great mix.

    Laure's "blammona" verification word is so descriptive that I'll expect to hear it on Sports Center!

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  5. Hi, Laure. Thank you! I sketched the kingfisher in a handmade "Brenda Books" watercolor journal: http://www.brendabooks.com/journals/hardboundwatercolor.htm
    The book is a mixture of 140# hot press watercolor paper and 140# quality sketch paper. This sketch is on hot press watercolor paper and does have a a soft surface.

    Love your "blammona" experience!

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  6. Hey, Lynne. This was the first time I had been around a kingfisher that wasn't seen perched on a wire while I was driving! The birds at Viera Wetlands seem to ignore people. I guess they are used to the stream of people watching them.

    Thank you, Jeff. I'm looking forward to West VA too and warmer weather!

    Hi, Marge. Thank you! I took more photos than I care to count, but I'm certainly enjoying all the discoveries as I browse through them.

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  7. How cool about training their young to dive - I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing all the cool facts.

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  8. Vickie you sure had a very educational birding experience at this bird fest. Kingfishers are hard to photograph at least they are here. Loved reading about the last fun fact about how they teach their young ones. So cool!

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  9. I really have been enjoying your sketch book shots. You are very good. That foot is very impressive. I love a well done bird foot. They are not easy. But I feel they add so much to a painting.

    You are gonna have to come to the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest to see--maybe even be a contestant in--the Game Show Jeff does. It is fun and informative.

    It was nice meeting you in person. Keep doing those fantastic studies.

    Best,
    Liz

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  10. I didn't expect the crest to be that big. nice shots.

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  11. Wonderful post and pics, Vickie! (And congrats on the opportunity to meet and learn from a master like Jeff.)

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  12. Terrific! - I have yet to get close enough to a belted for any kind of a shot, and you have the action! - patience, perseverance, good equipment, good eye and/or luck - whatever, good photos!

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  13. Great post Vickie. Your sketch is fantastic and I love the series of the bird "preparing" his meal!

    Belted Kingfishers are one of my nemesis birds as far as the photography experience goes. I have been trying to get a good shot of one for over a year now. I managed to get an in-flight shot once but I would love to get close enough to capture them as they fish.

    I also didn't know that they teach their young to fish that way. I have observed a Belted Kingfisher nesting site on the Sacramento River and hope to photograph them this year if they return to the same site.

    They nest in holes on river banks, the holes being somewhat larger than those of Bank Swallows and can be six feet deep. All I need to do is get myself a kayak so I can float down the river to said location for the shoot ;-)

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  14. Fantastic sketches as usual, Vickie. Always nice to see their feet, which we hardly see in good detail.

    Interesting to see the reverse sexual dimorphism in the Belted, because it doesn't seem to be the case in the related form Cerle rudis here; our males have double breast band while the female has one 'breast band', which is broken in the middle.

    The ones over here usually tolerate close approaching (especially by boat in tourist areas!), which makes them easier to photograph. I guess that is true for many life forms in Sri Lanka as we do not hunt wild animals, thanks to Buddhist/Hindu influence.

    I got a frame filling shots of one of these during a boat ride, which I will share soon.

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