Common Kingfisher ( Alcedo atthis ) Meenkothi
The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as the Eurasian Kingfisher, ‘Cheriya Meenkothi’ or ‘Neela Ponman” in Malayalam vernacular is a small kingfisher widely distributed n Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but also migrate from areas where rivers freeze in winter. The bird inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries and along rocky seashores.
The adult bird is about 16 cm long with a wingspan of 25 cm. The bird has blue upperparts, a greenish-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and re-grow.
The food is mainly fish but also catches aquatic insects, crustaceans including freshwater shrimps, The bird has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The bird hunts from a perch 1–2 m above the water, on a branch, post or riverbank, bill pointing down as it searches for prey. It bobs its head when food is detected to gauge the distance and plunges steeply down to seize its prey usually no deeper than 25 cm below the surface. The wings are opened under water and the open eyes are protected by the transparent third eyelid.
There are seven subspecies differing in the hue of the upperparts and the intensity of the rufous color of the underparts. Like all kingfishers, the common kingfisher is highly territorial. The courtship is initiated by the male chasing the female while calling continually, and later by ritual feeding, with copulation usually following. The nest is in a burrow excavated by both birds of the pair in a low vertical riverbank, or sometimes a quarry or other cutting. The straight, gently inclining burrow is normally 60–90 cm long and ends in an enlarged chamber. The nest cavity is unlined but soon accumulates a litter of fish remains and cast.
The common kingfisher typically lays two to ten glossy white eggs. Both sexes incubate by day, but only the female at night. The eggs hatch in 19–20 days, and the young ones are in the nest for about 25 days. Once large enough, young birds will come to the burrow entrance to be fed. Two to three broods may be reared in a season.
Populations appear to be stable so the species is put under ” least concern” in IUCN Red List.
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