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Pied kingfishers (Ceryle rudis) are a minimalist’s wet dream. They pack up so much suave and swag for a bird with a two-tone (which is what pied means, bi-colored and not getting a pie thrown in your face) color palette, it’s just ridiculous. They are that beautiful. Out of the seven species of kingfisher found in Sri Lanka, they are the third most common (more or less) which is the same for their worldwide distribution where they are found from sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia from Turkey to India to China. Apart from their large distribution, they tend to prefer a more permanent home. They do migrate short distances depending on seasons but do not undertake continent-spanning migrations like most birds.

They have no need to hunt on land as their prey is entirely or mostly aquatic (small fish, crustaceans, aquatic insects, small frogs, etc). So, like hummingbirds, they have become adept at hovering above a stationary point and when you look at videos of them hovering, you can clearly see that only their wings move and the head is motionless and the body is positioned at a roughly 45-degree angle to the water surface. The wings move in a figure-eight position (like the infinity symbol) so they can create the lift they need to be airborne and their wings move at a rate of 10 movements per second! 

Pied Fisher exiting the water with a fish. Photograph by Anjallee Prabhakaran.

This high energy output makes them voracious eaters and they need to eat approximately 50% of their body weight, every day, to survive. They can cover large bodies of water without the constant need for a perch close by because of their amazing hovering skills (this is called “aerial perching”). They hover over the waterline, sometimes fifty feet up and once they lock down their prey (they have this amazing ability to compensate for the effects of refraction caused by water and pinpoint their prey exactly), they dive beak first (like a guided missile) and snatch their prey and gulp it down mid-flight or would take it to the perch to stun it before gulping head first (The reason why birds swallow a fish head first is because that way, the fish scales won’t irritate their insides while it travels down to the stomach).

When they would finally perch on a nearby branch, they would bob their heads up and down and start gossiping with the neighbors about the day (gets as loud as the manning market on a Saturday noon). They are very gregarious (loves company) and would hang out in small groups. Also, it is not unlikely to see large roosts at night. Males and females look alike but easy to tell them apart because of the bands on their chests. Males have a thick band on top and a thin one below and females only have one thick band which is sometimes broken down in the middle.

Photographs by Sayuru Imesh.

Like their common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) cousins, pied kingfishers make their nests on earthy banks closer to a water source. Both sexes put their backs (and beaks) into making the tunnel and it usually measures about 1m in length. Then the female lays about four to 5 eggs and the male helps with the incubation and the feeding of the female throughout the whole process. Because of their sociable nature, other members of the group would willingly help parents to look after their chicks (which is called cooperative breeding). Up to four “nannies” would volunteer their services and usually, the nannies in question are adults who failed to raise their own chicks or the parent’s adult kids from a previous litter. Guess it is family first for these critters (Somewhere, Dom Toretto sheds a tear).

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IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
National Red List Status: Least Concern

Out of the seven species of kingfishers found in Sri Lanka, the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) has the second most widespread distribution. Even though it is called the “common kingfisher”, it is not comparatively common (much like common sense) to see. The reason it is called common kingfisher is because of its wide distribution along Eurasia and in parts of North Africa. Hands down, it is one beautiful bird. The contrast of orange with the multiple shades of blue, neatly arranged in a form the size of a sparrow truly makes it a much sought after bird with photographers and birding enthusiasts (it is a common fact that it is not easy to get a satisfying picture of a common kingfisher).

Being a rather shy, inconspicuous bird, it tends to perch away from the crowd, overlooking a clear stream, pond or any such source of water. Since its main diet comprises species that are quite sensitive to water pollution (e.g. small fish, tadpoles, freshwater crustaceans etc), and therefore in Japan, the common kingfisher is  considered as a freshwater indicator species. Clearer the water, better are its chances of catching prey, as it has to consume 60% of its body weight every day. You might even find one perching on a tree in your garden, if it is nearby to one of its preferred habitats, like a wetland.

Speaking of the Japanese, they modeled their 300 km/h bullet trains (specifically the front face of the train) after the beak of the kingfisher. The reason being that the shape of its beak provided the ultimate aerodynamic solution for preventing the loud sonic boom (which happens every time a bullet train enters a tunnel), making the trains more sustainable and eco-friendly.

Telling the sexes apart can be quite tricky (as both are really flamboyant), but the general rule is to see if the underpart of the beak is orange. If it is, it’s a female and if the whole beak is black, it’s a male. This beak coloration is more prominent in adult females. Common kingfishers are highly territorial and there is no love lost between individuals as they are solitary birds and very much like to keep it that way. If another kingfisher even pokes its beak over the boundary, a full-on scuffle can be expected.

Males chase after females, calling continuously. This is followed by a ritual feeding which then leads to copulation (guess they do buy dinner first, huh!). Rather than conforming to the norm and building a nest, the pair straight up tunnels into the mud on a vertical riverbank, before the female deposits her eggs inside. You might wonder how on earth the newly hatched, hungry chicks find the parents and vice versa in that pitch dark tunnel (CEB/LECO does not cover kingfisher tunnels, sadly) but as always, nature has a solution. The hatchlings have a white blotch on the tip of their beak and the adults have a white patch in their face, which acts as a visual cue (like the vest a traffic warden has, with luminous stripes).

Just because it is named common (not to be confused with the Rapper/Actor, Common) does not mean that this species is not threatened. The small perks which make the common kingfisher unique also makes it sensitive to change, to which we are a part of. If we do not change our impact on the environment, it won’t be long until it is renamed as the uncommon kingfisher.