Order t^oraciir 



oracurormes 



Kingfishers: Family Alcedinidae 



Western Belted Kingfisher: 



Megaceryle alcyon caurina (Grinnell) 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male: Under parts white, with blue gray belt across breast; 

 crest and upper parts bluish gray; nuchal collar white; wing quills black, marked 

 with white; tail with middle feathers bluish gray, the rest black, spotted with 

 white. Adult female: similar, but belly partly banded and sides heavily washed 

 with rufous. Young: like adults, but male with breast band and sides tinged with 

 rusty. Length: 11.00-14.50, wing 6.00-6.50, tail 3.80-4.30, bill lor more." (Bailey) 

 Nest: A burrow in a perpendicular bank. Eggs: 5 to 8, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from northern Alaska and Yukon territory south to 

 southern California and from Rockies to Pacific. In Oregon: Permanent resident 

 throughout State. Less common in winter. 



THE RATTLING CRY and flashing blue wings of the Western Belted King- 

 fisher (Plate 67) have been familiar to frequenters of Oregon's water 

 courses and lakes since the Lewis and Clark expedition first noted this 

 bird at the mouth of the Columbia on March 2.4, 1806 (Lewis and Clark 

 1814). Every ornithologist since then has listed this industrious fisher- 

 man among the birds observed in the State, and the field records of the 

 Biological Survey contain dozens of records. Our own records cover every 

 month and all parts of the State. Eggs are laid in May and June (May 12. 

 to July i), usually in a long tunnel excavated in a perpendicular bank 

 near the water. There the young remain and are fed by the parents until 

 able to launch out from the mouth of the burrow to start fishing for 

 themselves. 



Until recent years, every small stream and lake in Oregon big enough 

 to support a population of fish and other aquatic life had its pair of 

 kingfishers, but the relentless and senseless persecution of this striking 

 bird by sportsmen has sadly reduced its numbers. As in many other 

 instances, the persecution is the result of ignorance and misunderstanding. 

 Fishermen, whipping their favorite stream, see the flash of blue and white 

 as this expert diver plunges into the stream to emerge almost instantly 

 with a tiny fish in its beak and jump to the conclusion that trout and 

 other game fish are being terribly depleted by these birds. Nothing could 

 be further from the truth. Although this kingfisher would undoubtedly 



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