The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is a bird not often seen, yet it is instantly recognisable as a flash of electric blue zipping along our waterways, often accompanied by their high-pitched whistling call. Kingfishers rely on healthy rivers and watercourses. Its Welsh name is Glas y Dorlan which literally translated means blue of the river.

Kingfishers are what originally inspired me to take up photography. We went on a canoeing holiday, spending 5 days canoeing along the river Wye from Hereford to Redbrook, camping along the way. I have vivid memories of these beautiful birds whizzing by very close as we were paddling. I tried, unsuccessfully, to take a picture of one with my little “point and shoot” camera. Not long after that I got my first DSLR camera. Since then, I have spent many happy hours on riverbanks, lakes and canals waiting for, and photographing Kingfishers.

Kingfishers prefer slow moving or still water. In the UK, they can be found along rivers and canals, around lakes and also around the coast. I have often seen kingfishers perching on boats in marinas.

Their diet is made up of mostly small fish i.e. minnows, bullheads and sticklebacks. They will also eat amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates. The Scottish Wildlife Trust did some interesting work analysing Kingfisher pellets (Kingfishers regurgitate the indigestible parts of their prey). Their work confirmed the presence of Notonecta glauca (common backswimmer) a common aquatic invertebrate. Because the kingfishers’ diet is made up of exclusively aquatic species, this makes them a strong indicator of a healthy ecosystem. Without healthy rivers and watercourses, kingfishers cannot survive.

Kingfishers generally hunt their prey from branches overhanging the water. They have strong neck muscles which allows them to keep their head still while scanning for prey. They have specially adapted eyes with 2 focal points. This gives them both monocular vision in the air and binocular vision underwater which allows them to adjust for the change in refraction between air and water as they dive. They also have a nictitating membrane which protects the eye as they dive. Once they have located a fish, kingfishers will dive into the water at speeds of up to 25mph. If the dive is successful, they will return to a perch which they will use to bash their prey on to subdue it before swallowing it headfirst. The kingfishers long, slender bill enables them to enter the water with minimal disturbance. 

The shape of the kingfisher’s bill inspired a Japanese engineer and keen birdwatcher who was grappling with a serious design problem: the nose of the early bullet train created a loud boom as it entered tunnels. This burst of noise, caused by compressed air, disturbed wildlife and rattled windows in nearby buildings. Observing how a kingfisher slips effortlessly from air into water without making a splash, the engineer applied the same principle to the train’s nose design. The modified shape, based on the kingfisher’s bill, successfully solved the problem, a lovely example of biomimicry in action.

A lot of my most memorable kingfisher encounters have been from my hide, which I place on the riverbank, near to a place where I know they like to perch. I then sit quietly, enjoying the sounds of the river and the other wildlife. Often, my patience will be rewarded with a sighting of one of our most colourful birds, which still brings me the same feeling of joy as my very first sightings. Winter makes it easier to see the kingfishers perching by the river as the trees have lost their leaves. If you sit quietly by a watercourse with a flask and a pair of binoculars, you may be lucky enough to glimpse this beautiful jewel of the river.