Wild Birds

American Green Kingfishers

The American green kingfishers are native to tropical Central and South America, with one species extending north to south Texas.

They comprise four species:

Breeding / Nesting

The American green kingfishers breed by streams in forests or mangroves.

They nest in long horizontal tunnels made in a river bank.

Description

They have the typical kingfisher shape, with a short tail and long bill.

All are plumaged oily green above, and the underpart colour shows an interesting pattern insofar as the smallest and second largest, American Pygmy Kingfisher and Green-and-rufous Kingfisher, have rufous underparts, whereas the largest and second smallest,

Amazon Kingfisher and Green Kingfisher, have white underparts with only the males also having a rufous breast band.

Diet / Feeding

American Green Kingfisher mostly feed on crustaceans and fish caught by the usual kingfisher technique of a dive from a perch or brief hover, although the American Pygmy Kingfisher will hawk at insects in flight.

Kingfisher InformationKingfisher Species Photo Gallery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.

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