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[[image: beltedkingfisher.jpg]]

'''Common Name:''' Belted Kingfisher<br>
'''Scientific Name:''' Ceryle alcyon

'''Size:''' 11-14 inches (28-35cm)

'''Habitat:''' North America. Summers: Breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland, southward to southern United States. Winters: from southern Canada southward to northern South America. Found by open bodies of water.

'''Status:''' Least Concern. '''Global Population:''' 2,000,000 mature adults.

'''Diet:''' Fish, aquatic invertebrates, insects, and small vertebrates. Hovers above, searching for prey and dives to strike, often submersing it’s self into the water.

'''Breeding:''' Nest in burrow in bank near water. The tunnel slopes upward from the entrance to keep water from entering the nest. Tunnel length ranges from 30 to 250 cm (1 to 8 ft). No lining used. 3-5 white eggs are laid.

'''Cool Facts:''' The breeding distribution of the Belted Kingfisher is limited in some areas by the availability of suitable nesting sites. Human activity, such as road building and gravel pits, has created banks where kingfishers can nest and allowed the expansion of the breeding range.

During breeding season the Belted Kingfisher pair defends a territory against other kingfishers. A territory along a stream includes just the streambed and the vegetation along it, and averages 1 km or ½ mile long. 



'''Found in [http://hivewire3d.com/songbird-remix-cool-unusual2.html Songbird ReMix Cool and Unusual Birds 2]'''