Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americanaOrder: CORACIIFORMESFamily: Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)

Overview

Green Kingfisher: Small kingfisher, dark green head, back, and wings, white chin, collar, rufous breast band, white belly with black spots. Black bill is long and straight. Legs and feet are gray. Feeds mostly on small fish taken in dives and aquatic insects, amphibians. Direct flight.

Range and Habitat

Green Kingfisher: Uncommon and local in southern Texas; rare to casual in southeastern Arizona; has recently begun nesting locally in south Arizona, spreading north from Mexico. Preferred habitats include small, clear streams, quiet pools, and backwaters.

Listen:

Voice Text

"tick-tick", "cheep"

Green Kingfisher

● Song: "tick-tick", "cheep"

● Foraging & Feeding: Green Kingfisher: Hunts from low perches along the edge of the water or from rocks in the water. Feeds primarily on small fish, insects, and amphibians taken by plunge diving.

● Breeding & nesting: Green Kingfisher: Three to six white eggs are laid in a nest made of grass and built in a burrow 2 to 3 feet deep, usually in a stream bank. Incubation ranges from 19 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Green Kingfisher: Belted and Ringed kingfishers are larger with blue-gray upperparts and head.

Flight Pattern

Rapid buzzing direct flight.

Green Kingfisher Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Green Kingfisher: Uncommon and local in southern Texas; rare to casual in southeastern Arizona; has recently begun nesting locally in south Arizona, spreading north from Mexico. Preferred habitats include small, clear streams, quiet pools, and backwaters.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationUncommon and local in southern Texas, Rare to casual in southeastern Arizona

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight1.3 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America