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The Amazon kingfisher is about 30 cm (12 in) long. Males weigh 98 to 121 g (3.5 to 4.3 oz) and females 125 to 140 g (4.4 to 4.9 oz). It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are dark gray. Adult males have dark bronzy ...
The green-and-rufous kingfisher hunts from a low perch from which it dives into water for its prey. It favors shaded perches over open ones and does not hover like some other kingfishers. Its diet includes small fish such as those of families Characidae, Cichlidae, and Cyprinodontidae, crabs, shrimps, and aquatic insects. [11] [12]
The Amazon kingfisher usually hunts from a perch from which it dives into water for its prey. The perch is typically about 1 to 1.5 m (3 to 5 ft) high; it may be directly over water or within a few meters of its edge. In a study in Amazonia about half of the perches were bare snags and the rest were a mix of leafless and leafy trees and bushes.
The ringed kingfisher, Megaceryle torquata, a more distant relative, also occurs on the same rivers, but is twice as heavy as the Amazon kingfisher. Genetically, the largest species, C. amazona, is the most distantly related, while the medium-sized (but differently colored) C. americana and C. inda are sister species.
The largest kingfisher in Africa is the giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima), which is 42 to 46 cm (17 to 18 in) in length and 255–426 g (9.0–15.0 oz) in weight. [17] The common Australian kingfisher, known as the laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), is the heaviest species, with females reaching nearly 500 g (18 oz) in weight. [18]
The American pygmy kingfisher is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Males weigh 10 to 16 g (0.35 to 0.56 oz) and females 12 to 16 g (0.42 to 0.56 oz). It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are pinkish to light gray. Males of ...
The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.
The underparts may be white or rufous, and all forms have a contrasting breast band except male ringed kingfisher. The underpart pattern is always different for the two sexes of each species. These birds nest in horizontal tunnels made in a river bank or sand bank.