This is bird node.

Kingfishers.

They fish, right?

The clues in the name.

Over most of the waters of North America, it's the belted kingfisher.

Europe's single species is the small, brilliant blue, much beloved, common kingfisher.

When you hit tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and especially the vicinity of Australia, it's

clear that despite the group name, most of the roughly 90 species of kingfishers don't

fish.

They hunt in woodlands, where the smaller ones, like the 4-inch pygmy kingfisher, will eat

grasshoppers and centipedes, and the larger ones will take frogs, reptiles, small mammals,

and even snakes.

Yup, Australia's laughing cuckaburra is a member of the kingfisher family, and it's been known

to dispatch snakes up to three feet in length.

No matter whether the kingfisher you see is wrangling a snake, or plunging for a fish,

we'll be looking at a member of one of the world's most charismatic groups of birds.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein.