Kingfisher Reproduction -Conservation Status

Kingfisher Reproduction

Kingfisher courtship occurs in spring. The male will approach the female with a fish in his beak. He will hold it so that the head of the fish is facing outwards and attempt to feed it to the female. If he is unsuccessful he will simply eat the fish himself. He may have to repeat this feeding behaviour for some time before mating occurs. Kingfishers make burrows in sandy riverbanks. The burrow consists of a horizontal tunnel with a nesting chamber at the end and are usually about a metre long.

The female lays about 5 or 7 white, glossy eggs but sometimes will lay up to 10 eggs. The eggs average 1.9 centimetres in breadth, 2.2 centimetres in length and weigh about 4.3 grams, of which 50% is shell. The male and the female share the job of incubating the eggs for about 20 days. Both incubate by day, however, only the female kingfisher incubates by night. The eggs hatch in 19 – 20 days and the young remain in the nest for a further 24 – 25 days, sometimes longer. Once large enough, young birds will come to the burrow entrance to be fed. Two to three broods may be reared in a season.

During the breeding season, kingfishers can often be seen hunting around the deep pools that form in the bends of rivers. These locations are rich in the young fish that the kingfishers feed to their young. A hungry brood of a Kingfisher can demand over 100 fish a day from their parents.

The early days for the young kingfishers are the most dangerous. About four days after leaving the nests, the fledglings will take their first dives into the water to find prey. Unfortunately, those who will not have learned how to fish by this time may become waterlogged and drown. About only half survive more than a week or two.

Very few birds live longer than one breeding season. The oldest kingfisher on record was 21 years of age.

Kingfisher Conservation Status

Kingfishers are very sensitive to cold weather and a particularly harsh winter can seriously reduce kingfisher populations. Kingfisher populations fluctuate greatly because of this. However, they are not listed by the IUCN Red List.