It has always fascinated me how female kingfishers are more colorful than
the males. I wonder how many other birds fit this pattern? My National
Geographic Guide shows the ringed kingfisher female having more markings
than the male (not more color, however), and the green kingfisher with
reversed roles (the male has the rust band). It also appears that some of
the trogon species have more colorful females than males. Has anyone
noticed other species with this trait?

wjansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, 7 Nov 1996, Scott Richardson wrote:

> > From: Janet Hardin <wings at olympus.net> on kingfishers...
>
> > The birds appeared to be an adult male and female
> Appeared to be? Did the "female" have her rusty belt on?
> I'm curious mainly because I see only male kingfishers during winter at
> East Bay, Olympia. Females are present only from the end of April to early
> October. There was a Natural History article a decade or so back that
> described migration of females while males remained on the breeding
> grounds. Details are fuzzy, though, so I hope somebody else has this stuff
> memorized. And maybe Washington kingfishers don't fit the pattern as well
> as I had thought.
>
> [snipped: exciting description of splashy, flighty behavior]
>
> Sorry I'm no help here, Janet. I've seen "synchronized" flight in
> kingfishers, what I assumed was a rushing, nuptial display in May, but
> nothing like you've described. Wish I was there.
> --
> Scott Richardson
> NE Seattle
> salix at halcyon.com
>