Subject: [Tweeters] Belted Kingfisher Question - Juvie Male ???
Date: Aug 28 09:49:24 2009
From: Lyn Topinka - pointers at pacifier.com



hi group ...

here's the pix, bird seen yesterday (thursday) at Ridgefield NWR ...
on the River S tour, over Bower Slough ... the bird was calling like
I've heard juveniles of other species do, it remained for quite a
long time at one spot, and it didn't seem to mind the car stopping
... in the past I found the Kingfishers seemed to leave when the car
actually stopped ... when I went by the area again about 2 hours
later it was still within about 50 feet of where I took the earlier picture ...

http://ridgefieldbirds.com/Images09Aug/RNWR_belted_kingfisher_08-27-09.jpg

now, as to why I'm wondering if it is a Juvenile Male --- here's some
online quotes ...

from Cornell's "ALL ABOUT BIRDS" (I do not have access to their Birds
of North America)



Male Description

Belly white, without rufous band. May have rufous flanks and some
reddish in blue chest band.

Female Description

Rufous flanks and band across chest below the blue band. Rufous tips
to feathers in blue chest band.

Immature Description

Immature like adult, but immature male has incomplete rufous chest band.


and from another website:

Pay attention to the appearance of the Belted Kingfisher. It is a
stocky bird with slate blue upperparts and underparts that are mostly
white in color. Males and females both have a slate blue band on
their breasts, while females also have a rust colored band on their
bellies. Juvenile Belted Kingfishers have rust-colored spots in their
breast bands

and yet another website stated that the female adult's rufous breast
band was thinner than the juvenile males ... the band in the pix I
took yesterday is much thicker than previous females I have
photographed in past years. ...

I'm not sure where else to look ... Sibley isn't very helpful here
(page 304 if you've got yours next to you) ...

thanks,
Lyn




Lyn Topinka
http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com
http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com
http://RidgefieldBirds.com