UPDATE – 14th April (Part 2 – the birds and their behaviour)
Since my 5th April update there has been yet another noticeable change in the birds’ behaviour and I’m fairly confident that having completed the egg laying phase they are now well into the incubation period.
When seen at close range Kingfishers are surprisingly small birds being only a little bigger than a robin in terms of length from tip to tail and weighing in at an average of only about
36 - 40g or about 1 ¼ ozs. Needless to say, they are very proficient at catching small fish and typically consume a little over their own bodyweight each day, perhaps taking 15 – 18 minnows or similar sized fish.
I have noticed that after a night spent roosting the very first thing that the birds do each morning is to go fishing and this doubtless explains why they are so much more active around the areas of water in their nesting territory during the early morning than say at dusk, by which time they will hopefully have had their fill.
During the egg laying phase it is particularly important for the female to maintain her condition and bodyweight and this is why the male appears to spend most of the first hour or so of daylight during this period catching fish and bringing them back to the nest area to pass over to the female. On one of my early morning visits I saw him bring 4 good sized fish to the nest hole within 50 minutes. Each time he would take up a position on a perch opposite calling constantly. The female often kept him waiting for a few minutes (familiar theme there eh fellas
) before emerging from the hole, joining him on the perch, taking the fish and then going back into the hole. Doubtless the male had also caught a few fish for himself in order to build up his own energy levels and so his fishing rate in that first hour of daylight must be quite prolific.
Getting back to the egg laying, a typical clutch is said to be 6 or 7 eggs with the female laying one egg each day on the bare soil of the nest chamber. However, brooding does not begin until the clutch is complete so as to ensure that all the chicks hatch on the same day with an equal chance of survival. Therefore, after each day’s egg is laid (usually by mid-morning according to the research of others) the female leaves the nest hole to resume fishing for herself and to preen.
During the last few days I have noticed that the birds’ habits have changed, with fish passes from male to female having stopped and with the birds now spending roughly equal periods of time (of about 1 – 1 ¼ hours) in the nest hole. As incubation is shared by both sexes this indicates that we are now in that phase – more on that in my next update.
Finally, here’s a couple of close range photos taken from my dome hide within about 12 feet of the birds. In the 2nd photo note the bird’s unusual (syndactyl) feet in that the 2nd and
3rd toes are joined as far as the second joint.
Jeff