Kingfisher feeding habits ....

[Cheryl]

There was a letter in todays Telegraph from someone in Somerset who claims to have a kingfisher land and take seed from his bird table .He apparently lives 1/2 a mile from running water - do you think that that could be true and he has seen a kingfisher on his birdtable? Has any one else seen birds where you wouldn't expect them ? There's a photo in the current edition of Bird Watching of a tree creeper on a peanut feeder so the unexpected obviously does happen

[feathered-friend]

For 4 days in a row we have had a treecreeper eating the seed from around the ground feeder, not certain, but thought this might be unusual.

I suppose its possible re: the kingfisher, especially if its normal fishing spots have been iced over.

[aeshna5]

I wonder whether he/she has confused a Nuthatch for a Kingfisher?

I could believe a Kingfisher landing on a bird table, but find it hard to believe one coming for seed.

[natureguy]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

I wonder whether he/she has confused a Nuthatch for a Kingfisher?

I could believe a Kingfisher landing on a bird table, but find it hard to believe one coming for seed.

I was thinking the same thing, maybe hes not that knowledgable about birds and has mistaken something else for a kingfisher. I really cant see them eating seed either.

[JeffH]

Seeing a Kingfisher 1/2 mile away from running water comes as no surprise at all and I can quite believe that one will land on a bird table but, like aeshna5 and natureguy, I very much doubt the eating seed bit.

I've probably read more than most about Kingfishers, including many scientific papers, but have never read anything about them eating seed

Depending on local conditions they do, however, often have a varied diet and have been recorded to have eaten at least 20 different species of freshwater and saltwater fish plus both terrestial and water borne insects, frogs, newts, tadpoles, crustaceans, molluscs, dragonfly larvae, etc.

A seed eating Kingfisher would certainly be a novel find but, in the recent spell of very cold weather with lots of frozen watercourses, who knows?

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers and Barn Owls)

[ron1863]

My back garden has a river running alongside it and we regularly see Kingfishers and Dippers, and sometimes the Kingfishers sit on the lower tree branches (neverfor long though). Our feeders are very close to the water and the Kingfisher and Dippers has shown absolutely no interest in them over the years.