$900.00
This shorebird will catch your ear right before catching your eye—and his aquatic prey. Belted Kingfishers let you know when you’ve entered their arena with a loud, machine-like rattle that extends their body up and crest forward. You’ll see them eyeing the water carefully for prey, then diving quickly with their large bills ready to catch. Males and females have a ragged crest and powder blue-gray coloration. Males have a blue band across their white chests, and females have both a blue and a coppery chest band.
They’re often seen perching along riverbanks and shorelines where the water is clear and there is minimal vegetation. Belted Kingfishers spend most of the year alone until they pair up during the breeding season. Males (and occasionally females) establish territories, which usually conform to the shape of the stream or shoreline. Belted Kingfishers are monogamous in each breeding season but form new pairs yearly. The male feeds the female while courting her. Both members vigorously defend their territory by chasing away intruders while giving loud rattle calls.
Catching fish isn’t the only thing their big bills are used for. Kingfishers excavate burrows in earthen banks along the water, selecting a site during courtship. Males probe the bank with their bills, flying back and forth to the nearby female. They both take turns digging the burrow, though males spend twice as much time digging. They take 3-7 days to complete, and the burrow extends 3 to 8 feet into the bank. Throughout the breeding season a layer of undigested fish bones, fish scales, and arthropod exoskeletons may accumulate and provide some insulation.
As nestlings, Belted Kingfishers have acidic stomachs that help them digest bones, fish scales, and arthropod shells. But by the time they leave the nest, their stomach chemistry changes and they regurgitate as adults do. A clutch is 5 to 8 eggs, with 1 to 2 broods per season.
Belted Kingfishers were once hunted and trapped, especially near fish hatcheries and along trout streams, to prevent them from killing fish. This practice has been outlawed through migratory bird laws. Compared to other fish-eating birds, Belted Kingfishers seem relatively unaffected by environmental contaminants, possibly because their small fish prey accumulates only low levels of toxins. Kingfisher populations are limited by the number of earthen banks available for nesting, and some populations have grown and spread thanks to human-made sand and gravel pits. However, they are sensitive to disturbance and may abandon territories if people begin frequenting the area.
Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.
Source: All About Birds & Audubon Society
Frame Details: Hard maple float frame
Framed Size: 25 x 20(inches)
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All orders will be shipped in 3-10 business days via USPS Priority mail, UPS or FedEx, depending on the size of the item and whether framing was desired. For medium to larger works, and if crating is needed to safely ship, it will be UPS or FedEX. USPS can ship larger works but it is a lot more expensive!
If I anticipate framing will take longer for any reason, I will reach out and let you know! You will receive a tracking number via email once the work has shipped.
If you are in the Fargo-Moorhead area and wish to pick it up, please select STUDIOPICKUP at checkout. I will have a table in the front lobby with your piece labeled for pick-up between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM. I will always try to say hello if I am in the studio!
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