The kingfisher is a small bird with a short tail and legs, a short neck, short rounded wings, a large head with large eyes and a long dagger-shaped beak suitable for catching and holding fish. The legs are syndactile; the front legs are partially fused at the base.
The colour of the kingfisher is predominantly blue, with iridescent feathers (called the Tyndall effect) on the head and wings being blue-green and lighter to cobalt blue on the mid-back. The tail feathers are somewhat darker. The breast and belly feathers are coloured warm orange and stand out clearly. From the beak to behind the eye, the cheek has an orange eye stripe, which abruptly turns into a bright white stripe. The legs of an adult kingfisher are orange to red. The males can only be distinguished from females by the colour of the base of the bill, which is mostly to completely orange in the female. The base of the upper beak of the female may also be orange. The lower bill of the male can have an orange spot up to one third of the length, seen from the base. Juveniles are distinguished from adults by the fainter plumage with dark grey chest feathers, a shorter bill with a light beak tip and dark brown legs.
Hello, nice that you take a look in my shop. So my name is Gert Hilbink, living in Coevorden. I have been doing photography since I was 13, inspired by a biology teacher at the then U.L.O. school in Coevorden. Generally I mainly photograph nature but actually.. Read more…