---
title: "What the sources say about the Common Kingfisher | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "41 claims from the Common Kingfisher profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Common Kingfisher (*Alcedo atthis*)

> 41 claims from the Common Kingfisher profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Common Kingfisher](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-kingfisher/)

## Alcedo atthis (common kingfisher). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Alcedo_atthis/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| an underwater strike made by touch alone | they rely solely on touch to know when to snap their jaws shut (note: tagline; the colour words are description, the factual half is ADW's touch-only strike.) |
| Mostly small fish such as minnows, plus freshwater shrimp-like crustaceans and aquatic insects | Common kingfishers eat mostly small fish, making up 60-67% of their diet. ... Animal Foods: fish, insects, aquatic crustaceans, other marine invertebrates (note: stats.diet field; same source and reasoning as the body's diet sentence. 'Mostly' restored from the source.) |
| After catching a fish, a kingfisher carries it back to a perch, grips it by the tail and whacks it against the perch. | After catching a fish, common kingfishers will hold the prey by its tail, and whack it against the perch. |
| hunts from a perch that can be anywhere from several centimetres to several metres above the water | Common kingfishers hunt for prey from a perch above the water. Perches may be several centimeters to several meters above the water. |
| light bends at a different angle passing from air into water, an effect called refraction, and a kingfisher learns to compensate for that shift, which helps it catch prey more effectively | They also learn to compensate for refraction, allowing them to catch prey more effectively. (note: 'light bends at a different angle passing from air into water' is the standard definition of refraction, explained for young readers on first use; the source names the effect ('compensate for refraction') without spelling out the physics.) |
| a third eyelid called a nictitating membrane closes over each eye, and the bird finishes the job blind: it relies on touch alone to know the moment to snap its bill shut on the fish | In a dive for prey, a membrane covers their eyes and they rely solely on touch to know when to snap their jaws shut. (note: 'third eyelid' and 'nictitating membrane' are the standard names for the membrane ADW describes (rspb-kingfisher calls it 'a transparent third eyelid'); the page does not call it transparent, because the source that does says it helps the bird keep sight of its target, while ADW says the strike is finished by touch.) |
| A blind strike. It compensates for the way light bends where air meets water, then closes a third eyelid over each eye and relies on touch alone to time the snap of its bill. | They also learn to compensate for refraction, allowing them to catch prey more effectively. ... In a dive for prey, a membrane covers their eyes and they rely solely on touch to know when to snap their jaws shut. (note: stats.superpower restates the refraction-correction and touch-strike claims above, bridging two non-adjacent ADW sentences with ...) |
| Light bends at a different angle passing from air into water, an effect called refraction, and a common kingfisher learns to compensate for that shift, which helps it catch prey more effectively. | They also learn to compensate for refraction, allowing them to catch prey more effectively. (note: FAQ 1's opening sentence; same source and reasoning as the body claim above.) |
| the instant it hits the surface, a third eyelid called a nictitating membrane closes over each eye, and the bird finishes the strike blind, relying on touch alone to know the moment to snap its bill shut | In a dive for prey, a membrane covers their eyes and they rely solely on touch to know when to snap their jaws shut. |
| A kingfisher eats around 60% of its own body weight every day | This is mainly because they must eat around 60% of their body weight each day. |
| which is mainly why it is fiercely territorial, defending its patch of water against rivals, its mate and even its own offspring | Common kingfishers are very territorial ... This is mainly because they must eat around 60% of their body weight each day. They will even defend their area from their mates and offspring. (note: bridges two sentences with ...; 'fiercely' is voice for 'very territorial'.) |
| measures about 17 centimetres long | Average length 17 cm |
| Its diet is mostly small fish, including minnows, plus freshwater shrimp-like crustaceans and aquatic insects | Common kingfishers eat mostly small fish, making up 60-67% of their diet. ... Animal Foods: fish, insects, aquatic crustaceans, other marine invertebrates (note: 'shrimp-like' glosses ADW's amphipod crustacean prey (Gammarus fasciatus) for readers.) |
| After a catch, the bird carries the fish back to its perch, grips it by the tail and whacks it against the perch. That stuns or kills it, which is particularly important with spiny fish | After catching a fish, common kingfishers will hold the prey by its tail, and whack it against the perch. This stuns or kills the prey, which is particularly important when eating fish with spines. |
| Anything it cannot digest comes back up later as a pellet of bone | After consuming a fish it will regurgitate a pellet of indigestible bone. |
| Common kingfishers live along clear, slow-moving rivers, canals and ponds from Britain and Ireland across Europe and Asia as far east as Japan, and through Africa south of the Sahara | Alcedo atthis is found throughout Europe and Asia as far east as Japan. They are also found in Africa, south of the Sahara. (note: 'Britain and Ireland' and 'clear, slow-moving rivers, canals and ponds' come from rspb-kingfisher ('You can find them on most rivers, canals and lakes across the UK... They particularly like places where the water is clear or slow flowing') and bto-birdfacts-kingfisher ('Kingfishers are widely distributed on the lowland rivers of Britain & Ireland').) |
| Southern birds stay put all year, while northern populations move south in winter to escape freezing water | Common kingfishers are year long residents in their southern habitats, while northern populations travel south during the winter to escape freezing water. |
| Numbers swing hard from one year to the next, mostly because of severe cold | common kingfishers do undergo large fluctuations in populations on a yearly basis. This is due mostly to severe cold. |
| one census in Belgium counted 8 pairs after a severe winter, 45 five years later, and 25 the year after that | In one census, after a severe winter in Belgium there were only 8 pairs, five years later there were 45, but reduced to 25 the following year. |
| That stuns or kills the fish, which is particularly important when the prey has spines | This stuns or kills the prey, which is particularly important when eating fish with spines. |
| Once the fish is swallowed, anything the kingfisher cannot digest comes back up later as a pellet of bone | After consuming a fish it will regurgitate a pellet of indigestible bone. |
| Rivers Across Three Continents | Alcedo atthis is found throughout Europe and Asia as far east as Japan. They are also found in Africa, south of the Sahara. (note: heading counts the three continents (Europe, Asia, Africa) named in the range claim above; arithmetic, not a new figure.) |
| a membrane covers each eye as it hits the water, and it relies on touch alone to know when to snap its bill shut | In a dive for prey, a membrane covers their eyes and they rely solely on touch to know when to snap their jaws shut. (note: vibe.reason, settled in task #635) |
| tags: hyperactive | This is mainly because they must eat around 60% of their body weight each day. (note: tag moved from the chinstrap penguin (task #635): the definition is metabolic demand forcing relentless foraging) |

## BirdFacts: Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). British Trust for Ornithology.

https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/kingfisher

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| An adult weighs around 39 grams | All adults 39.1±3.5 g (34.5-45.5 g, N=554) (note: 39.1 g rounded to 39 g; the current BTO ringing figure is preferred over ADW's older 34 g average.) |
| UK ringing data collected by the British Trust for Ornithology show about 21.5% of young kingfishers survive their first year | Survival of juveniles All juveniles 0.215 (in first year) (note: 0.215 converted to 21.5%.) |
| a bird that reaches breeding age has a typical life expectancy of two years | Typical life expectancy of bird reaching breeding age 2 years with breeding typically at 1 year (note: BTO gives the figure as '2 years' for a bird reaching breeding age; the page states it as two years rather than two further years.) |
| the oldest in the BTO's ringing records reached 4 years, 6 months and 29 days | Maximum age from a ringed bird 4 years, 6 months, 29 days (set in 2012) (note: scope kept to the BTO's own ringing records, which is what the page reports.) |
| The oldest bird in the BTO's ringing records reached 4 years, 6 months and 29 days, in 2012. | Maximum age from a ringed bird 4 years, 6 months, 29 days (set in 2012) (note: FAQ 3's closing sentence.) |
| the UK's breeding population was stable from 1995 to 2024 | Population Change Stable 1995 to 2024 |
| Ringing data collected by the British Trust for Ornithology puts first-year survival at about 21.5 percent, and a bird that reaches breeding age has a typical life expectancy of two years. | Typical life expectancy of bird reaching breeding age 2 years with breeding typically at 1 year ... Survival of juveniles All juveniles 0.215 (in first year) (note: 0.215 converted to 21.5%; bridges two non-adjacent BTO stats with ... (life-expectancy line precedes survival line in the source); FAQ 3's opening restates the body's survival and life-expectancy claims. BTO gives the figure as '2 years' for a bird reaching breeding age; the page states it as two years rather than two further years.) |
| weightKg: 0.039 | All adults 39.1±3.5 g (34.5-45.5 g, N=554) (note: task #635; Micro class) |

## Kingfisher. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/kingfisher

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its "blue" is not really there. | a Kingfisher's feathers contain no blue pigment (note: blockquote lead-in; paraphrases RSPB's 'contain no blue pigment.') |
| Pluck a feather from a kingfisher's back and you will find no blue pigment in it; the feather is really a dull brown | But, believe it or not, a Kingfisher's feathers contain no blue pigment. They're actually a dull brown colour |
| Common kingfishers live along clear, slow-moving rivers, canals and ponds from Britain and Ireland | You can find them on most rivers, canals and lakes across the UK, apart from in northern Scotland. ... They particularly like places where the water is clear or slow flowing, so that they can easily spot their next meal. |
| Clear, slow-flowing rivers, canals, streams and ponds across Europe, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa | They particularly like places where the water is clear or slow flowing, so that they can easily spot their next meal. (note: range portion (Europe, Asia, sub-Saharan Africa) is the same ADW geographic-range quote used above; 'streams' from ADW's habitat line ('shores of lakes, ponds, streams, and in wetlands').) |

## Stavenga et al. (2011). Kingfisher feathers – colouration by pigments, spongy nanostructures and thin films. Journal of Experimental Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.062620

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The blue and cyan you see come from spongy nanostructures inside the feather barbs, which scatter light differently depending on the angle, an effect called iridescence | The cyan and blue barbs contain spongy nanostructures with slightly different dimensions, causing different reflectance spectra. ... the spongy barb structures create iridescence. (note: bridges two sentences of the abstract with ...; 'differently depending on the angle' is the abstract's 'angle-dependent light scattering.') |
| the orange breast feathers get their colour from pigment granules | Scanning electron microscopy showed that the orange barbs contain small pigment granules. (note: the abstract names the orange feathers as the pigmented ones; the page no longer says 'only.') |
| Move around the bird and its "blue" can shift shade, because you are looking at a structure, not a dye | The extent of the angle-dependent light scattering increases with decreasing wavelength. (note: 'shifts shade with viewing angle' and 'structural, not a dye' describe the angle-dependent iridescence the abstract reports; rspb-kingfisher independently states the blue 'comes from the way the tiny structures in the feathers scatter the light.') |

## Vilches, Miranda & Arizaga (2019). Does the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) select the most energetic fish prey? Ornis Fennica.

https://doi.org/10.51812/of.133945

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its diet is mostly small fish, including minnows | The most consumed fish-prey was the Pyrenean Minnow, and the Ebro Barbel was the less consumed prey (note: confirms 'minnow' as a documented prey fish of the species, though this Iberian population's minnow is a different species from a British one (same common name, genus Phoxinus).) |

## Alcedo atthis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T22683027A264589271.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2024-2.rlts.t22683027a264589271.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| the IUCN rates the species Least Concern worldwide | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |