It's a quiet summer morning on a side channel of the Danube River, not far from Vienna-Austria.

The water flows slowly past the green banks lined with poplars, willows, and dogwoods. On one branch, thin and bending towards the rippling water, there sits a compact bundle of blue and orange.

It's a bird, one whose head seems two sizes too big for its small body.

Its long, dagger-shaped bill seems even more out of proportion with the

rest of the ensemble. After some long minutes on its perch, waiting and watching, the bird suddenly

darts straight down into the water in a blur of blue and orange. It disappears with a splash. A heartbeat later, the bird bursts back

into the air and reclaims its perch, but now it has a wiggling minnow in its bill. Time for

breakfast. Scenes like this have played out, with and without human witnesses witnesses along the clear, slow-flowing waters

of Europe and Asia for millennia. The bird we're talking about is none other than the Prince

of Piscivary, that monarch of minnows. Yes, it's the kingfisher. The common kingfisher is well known and well loved by people across its extensive geographic range.

Not only does it have beautiful plumage, its fish-catching behavior never fails to be entertaining and impressive.

Music and impressive. Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode, which is number 102, is all about the common kingfisher.

Not to be confused with the 1991 film The Fisher King, starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges.

That's a good movie, but that's not what we're talking about today.

The common Kingfisher has the scientific name Alcedo at this.

The genus name Alcedo is spelled A-L-C-E-D-O. This word is derived from the Latin word of the same spelling Al-Sido.

It means Kingfisher. The Latin word itself has its roots in the Greek word Halcyon, which also

refers to a kingfisher. In fact, there's another genus in the Kingfisher family named Halcyon.

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