AVIAN NESTING 8/100 - Collared Kingfisher

Kingfisher tends to make their nest hole in earth stump or riverine embankment. In the case of the Collared their nest is a hole, either a natural tree hole or a burrow excavated by the birds themselves in a rotten tree, termite mound rather than in earth banks. They will also occupy old woodpecker holes. Both parents take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The young birds leave the nest as long as 30 days after hatching. Two broods are often raised in a year. At Kuala Selangor  we saw the Collared Kingfisher improvise  and dug a hole in the softer side of the root ball of dead palm tree trunk which was lying  on the trail.  The exposed nest was easy shooting  for us. I make do with umbrella and poncho covering and remain still to observe their feeding habit.

You can expect at least 2-3 chicks per nesting. There are record of 5 though. Both the parent are responsible to bring food to the nest. Small crabs are the favoured food in coastal regions but a wide variety of other animals are eaten including insects, worms, snails, shrimps, frogs, lizards, small fish. The bird perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it glides down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are pounded against the branch to subdue them before delivering to the nest.