I have photographed a?kingfisher?holding a fish?by its tail and?whipping its head?repeatedly onto a rock to kill it rather than just sit around waiting for?the fish?to die.?? Is the kingfisher one of those birds that will present food to?a potential mate as part of the courting ritual?


Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. USA


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From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net>
To: Lee Rentz <lee at leerentz.com>
Cc: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Belted Kingfishers

Lee,

I see no one has responded to this. My thought is that the kingfisher was waiting for the fish to die. They are programmed to make sure it's dead before they swallow it, often beating it on a branch as well as keeping it out of the water, and its programming may have been a little excessive. Well, a lot excessive. I guess it flew away with the fish, or you got tired of watching.

Dennis