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Showing posts with the label belted kingfisher

Colorado Birding

I know it's been ages since I posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been out birdwatching. I still have some pictures to post from a trip to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in December, and I'm finally putting up the pictures from our trip to Colorado the first week in January. I was anxious to see some new species, but in fact, some of my best sightings were birds that I could also see in right here in Massachusetts. I was particularly excited about this Belted Kingfisher- a lifer! Hungry fella? She has a fish (or something) in her mouth here: You can tell it's a female in this picture (although very distant and out-of-focus) because of the rust-colored markings (red chest band) on her breast. I read up on All About Birds and learned that Belted Kingfishers are one of the few species where the female is more brightly-colored than the male. They hunt by watching the water from their perch or hovering above, and then dive head-first into the water. They then fly to a ...