Kingfisher Query

[JAYS]

Whilst browsing the web yesterday, I tripped over a photograph of a kingfisher on the UK Bing site. I now I am not allowed to post links to images but as it was a photo on a public site I assume that there will be no harm in you googling or binging for it.
In the photograph the bird seemed to be leaving an ice hole with fish in its beak, (with attendant splash). What I thought was most unusual was that it had three fish held crosswise in its beak, very much in the style of those pictures we see of puffins with sandeels. Is this unusual for kingfishers? How would it catch and hold three fish using its plunge fishing technique? Or is it more likely that the photographer had left a few small floating dead fish for it so as to tempt it towards the camera?
I don't know what species the fish are, they are minnow sized, but the tail looks wrong for a British minnow.

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by JAYS

.... In the photograph the bird seemed to be leaving an ice hole with fish in its beak, (with attendant splash). What I thought was most unusual was that it had three fish held crosswise in its beak, very much in the style of those pictures we see of puffins with sandeels. Is this unusual for kingfishers? How would it catch and hold three fish using its plunge fishing technique? Or is it more likely that the photographer had left a few small floating dead fish for it so as to tempt it towards the camera?....

I've seen this photo - it featured in a series of Kingfisher photos published in one of the national newspapers (possibly the Daily Mail) a year or two ago.

I'ts by Manfred Delpho and there are more on his website - Delpho - Nature Photography

In answer to your questions:-

Yes, it is unusual for a Kingfisher to catch more than one fish in a single dive -I've certainly never seen it despite having spent thousands of hours over more than 5 years observing Kingfishers at close range.

No, they wouldn't be dead fish as a Kingfisher normally only takes live fish. On several occasions I've seen them ignore dead fish floating on the surface, even failing to retrieve dead fish they've dropped themselves.

I think the more likely answer is that an aquarium tank full of small fish has been placed beneath the icehole (or perhaps a piece of ice with a hole in it has been placed on top!). If you look at the photographer's website you'll see several images apparently taken below the surface of the water and with fish all around the submerged bird - this leads me to suspect that some sort of baiting set-up involving a fish tank has been used. In fact, I believe that in some of the underwater images you can actually see reflections in the glass at the back of the tank!

Sometimes things are not what they seem - see my thread on 'The ethics of Wildlife Photography' - The ethics of Wildlife Photography - a declaration

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls & Avocets)

[JAYS]

Thanks Jeff for that very informative reply. I think I had more or less concluded that the photo had been subject to some sort of "site preparation". As you say, all well and good provided that that has been made clear and there has been no attempt to pass of a photo as having been taken in a true wild situation.
I am very much an amateur with the camera but it still miffs me a little if I have to take a photo of a bird on a feeder. I would much rather struggle, and probably fail, in a natural setting.
I too thought it improbable that a kingfisher would normally catch and hold three fish in its beak. So it seemed highly likely to me that the fish had been swimming in a prepared shallow dish, and as such easy targets for the bird. Nice photo nontheless.

And as an angler myself, I am always very impressed that any kingfisher or heron, can catch enough to live on during our winters, when to me at least, the rivers look empty of fish.