Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Belted Kingfisher [lateral view of adult with head covered by water droplets]. Photograph Credit: Rickey Shive; Iron Mountain Rd., Metcalfe County, Kentucky; 1 September 2018.

Abundance: Uncommon during all seasons; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the Regional breeding population trend is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Permanent Resident; photograph [ventral view of female] (Don Davis, Blackburn Fork Rd., Jackson County, Tennessee; 23 October 2011);  photograph [lateral view of leucistic/albino individual] (Veronica Wright; Pleasant Hill, Cumberland County, Tennessee; 13 July 2010).

Regional High Count and FBC/FBB High Count: 20 (20 September 2008; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.); CBC/CBB High Count: 19 (21 December 2006; White County, Tennessee [CBC]; m. ob.); SBC/SBB High Count: 10 (8 May 2004; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).  The nest is always placed at the end of an excavated burrow in the bank of a stream or in a bank located at some other site, often far from water sources; burrows can be quite long (c. 2.5 m [8 ft]).   Availability of this nesting substrate is probably a limiting factor on the breeding density of this species.  Burrows constructed in the banks for streams and rivers are subject to flooding during wet years. Flooding of nest burrows appeared to be a factor reducing the number of kingfishers counted on forays conducted during 2011, a year when many Regional streams and rivers overflowed their banks several times during the breeding season (see also Foray Results [below]).

Habitat: Forages over many water sources, including streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and drainage ditches. Excavates nesting burrows in the banks of streams and rivers, as well as in sand banks far from water sources if suitable substrate for burrowing is not available along streams and rivers.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 29 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 54 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Uncommon each year; these results indicate that the kingfisher is as frequently encountered in Regional yards and neighborhoods as in the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: A conspicuous species, based both on its habit of perching in exposed places and on its loud vocalizations.  Typically territorial most of the year, a factor that causes the population to be thinly distributed and detectible in mainly small to occasionally moderate numbers.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited