Belted Kingfisher

Megaceryle alcyon

Coraciiformes / Alcedinidae · North America, coast to coast · first seen November 2025 · 1 sightings

Belted Kingfisher in flight, banking low — Late afternoon, side light.

Belted Kingfisher preening on an open branch — Morning, early autumn.

I keep running into belted kingfishers in the same spots every year, and every year I think I’ve worked them out. I haven’t.

Perch posture is half the ID. A belted kingfisher hunched, a belted kingfisher alert, and a belted kingfisher in the wind look like three different birds.

Regional occurrence notes: I usually catch this species in the north america part of its range.

The best individual bird I’ve had was hunting in thin morning light, long enough for me to watch rather than shoot for once.

Anyway: not a rare bird, not a hard bird, but one I want on every trip.