African Pied Kingfisher is smaller than a Belted Kingfisher (26-28cm
compared to 33cm). Most Kingfishers can hover "in still air" but
many of them aren't fishing (they're grasshoppering or lizarding).
I watched a Belted Kingfisher this morning hovering over the
Neawanna River, wind was 0-5 from the SW and the bird was hovering
in an e-w orientation.

I picked up on the whole hovering thing, too. The weakness in the
program is in the tendency to make absolutest statements. On the
issue of hawk hovering, Red-tails and Rough-legs hover, but into a
fairly stiff breeze. Ospreys, I'm not so sure, but they may be able
hover (with effort) in still air.

Len Jellicoe wrote:
>
> Hi,
> David Attenborough stated last night on the birds program on PBS
> that the PIEBALD KINGFISHER of Africa was the largest bird to hover in a
> still wind. I don't know how big a Piebald Kingfisher is but I bet the
> Osprey has it beat. I have also seen Red Tailed Hawks hover but I'm not
> sure if the wind was still. ( was there a thread on that?) And how
> about terns? I bet the Caspian tern is bigger than an African
> kingfisher (but then there is always a breeze on the ocean). Does
> anyone know of a bigger bird that hovers? And what ever happened to
> Michael Price? :-)
> I haven't posted to Tweeters for a while and this is the only thing
> I could come up with.
>
> See you in the field
> Len Jellicoe
> Surrey, BC

--
Mike Patterson The common view of science is that it is a sort of machine
Astoria, OR for increasing the race's store of dependable facts.
mpatters at oregonvos.net It is that only in part; in even larger part
it is a machine for upsetting undependable facts.

----- H.L.Mencken
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html