This is bird note.

There is bird note.

There's no other sound along a stream or waterway quite like the reverberating metallic call of a belted kingfisher.

As the showy crested kingfisher flies overhead, strong staccato wingbeats and white

wing patches flash a Morse code pattern. The bird's power is in its large head and sharp bill. The king of

fishers hovers over water, then dives head first to catch its prey in its bill.

Emerging from the water, the bird flies back to a perch.

There it juggles the meal, usually a fish, frog, or craw dead, into position and gulps it down.

At this time of year, the best places to see belted kingfishers are along sandy banks where they're busy digging nesting burrows. These stocky, short-legged birds use their front claws with two forward pointing toes fused together

for added strength and their strong bills to dig holes.

The holes typically reach 3 to 6 feet into the sandy bank, but some nesting

holes can extend 15 feet. When not perching, fishing, or building a nesting

burrow, the belted kingfisher dashes through the air, warning intruders with its rapid fire call.

You too can dig deeper and see a photo when you come to our website

Birdnote.org.

I'm Michael Stein.

Support for Bird Note is provided by the Bobbbleink Foundation

and generous listeners around the world.