The Kingfisher
The animal of the day is the Kingfisher. (Did you know: The kingfisher isn’t just a fisherman! It nhabits the interior of rainforests, woodland areas far from water, desert steppe, grassy savannas, streams, lakeshores, mangroves, seashores, gardens, mountain forests, and oceanic islands!
Though a large part of most kingfisher diets are fish, a big part of it are insects, lizards, other birds and even small mammals!
Kingfisher hunting for food A perfect dive at 100km/h, wings neatly folded back along his body to enhance his aerodynamics, this blue bird is a rocket. Making the most of a hole in a little frozen river in Land Hessen (Germany), the kingfisher, "Alcedo atthis", homes in. The water is cold but very clear - it flows on a bed sown with pebbles. The prey is within reach of his beak. The bird, which measures 16cm, cannot carry large fish, so he skewers three little ones. He soars back up thanks to a fluttering of his wings and an Archimedean force. He can capture 80 small fish in a day. He knows the best spots as he doesn't venture far from here, and his habitat is close by. He really is a "king fisher", the king of fishermen. He knocks his prey out before swallowing it head first, and regurgitating the bones. In the absence of perches or sticklebacks, he completes the menu with vertebrate amphibians and crustaceans. The only thing causing problems for the kingfisher: humans, who pollute its waters. Photographer: Gisela Delpho / Picture Press
Simba Nia's Blog 
Oct 04, 2010 @ 12:03:48
What lovely coloring that bird has!
Oct 04, 2010 @ 14:02:26
In the first picture he looks all, “I’m adorable and will eat seeds out of your hands”…but in the second picture, he’s like “I will hunt the crap out of all the fish!”. Awesome
Oct 04, 2010 @ 21:01:09
That’s the shit, son! I’m scared of birds, and anything that travels in 3D unlike me–thankfully this bad boy ain’t much bigger. Warn me before the mutant super-sized kingfisher makes it onto this list
Oct 05, 2010 @ 16:22:53
My favorite bird. Because they are always laughing and hanging out in the coolest places. But this looks like an Australian Kingfisher not the one we have around here.
Jun 01, 2011 @ 14:46:02
In the second picture, there is another fish on the bottom right corner just staring at his dead friend. He’s like OMG! No Jonny!