Belted Kingfisher

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Belted Kingfisher in the UK

The Belted Kingfisher is one of the rarest birds on the British List, in Category A with five accepted records. A female was shot on the River Allen at Sladesbridge, Cornwall, in November 1908. A male then wintered in Cornwall from October 1979 to August 1980. In April 2005 a male was seen in Staffordshire, East Yorkshire and Aberdeenshire within days. One was on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, on 18 April 2018. The most recent was a young male in Lancashire from November 2021 to April 2022. It has also reached Ireland several times.

Where and when to see a Belted Kingfisher

There is nowhere to look for one. Birds cross the Atlantic in autumn gales and are found by chance on rivers, canals, lakes and sheltered coasts, mostly in the west. Two of the five British birds were in Cornwall. Finds have come in October and November, with others picked up in April as wintering birds move. The Lancashire bird was first filmed on the River Ribble near Brockholes, vanished, then reappeared on nearby rivers and a canal over the winter. News spreads within minutes on the bird information services, and crowds follow.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Rivers (rare vagrant).
Diet: Fish.
Field note: Twice the size of European Kingfisher.

How to identify a Belted Kingfisher

Huge for a kingfisher: 28 to 35cm long, around twice the length of our Kingfisher and close to a Jackdaw in length. It has a big, shaggy double crest, a heavy dagger bill and a broad white collar. The upperparts and a band across the breast are slate blue-grey, the rest of the underparts white. Females add a second, rusty band across the belly and down the flanks, so they are the brighter sex. It perches high and in the open on branches and wires, hovers over water and plunges head first.

Call and song

A loud, harsh, dry rattle, like a wooden football rattle or a burst of machine-gun fire. It calls often in flight, and the sound carries a long way along a river. Nothing like the thin whistle of our Kingfisher. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Kingfisher: Our Kingfisher is sparrow-sized with electric blue upperparts and orange underparts, no crest and no white collar.

Related guide Rare birds in the UK.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Belted Kingfisher is a Legendary tier bird, worth +50 points when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Harlequin DuckLegendary · Fast rivers (very rare vagrant)
• American BitternLegendary · Reedbeds (very rare vagrant)
• Hooded MerganserLegendary · Ponds (very rare vagrant)
• Pied-billed GrebeLegendary · Lakes (very rare vagrant)
• Snowy EgretLegendary · Coastal pools (very rare vagrant)
• American CootLegendary · Lakes (very rare vagrant)

Belted Kingfisher: quick answers

Has a Belted Kingfisher ever been seen in the UK?

Yes, five times in Britain: Cornwall in 1908 and 1979-80, a wandering male in spring 2005, Scilly in 2018 and Lancashire in 2021-22. The 1908 bird was only admitted to the British List in 1980, 72 years after it was shot.

Is the Belted Kingfisher rare in the UK?

It is among the rarest birds you could hope to see here. Five records in more than a century means most British birders have never seen one in this country. The 2005 and 2021-22 birds were the only two that large numbers of people managed to catch up with in recent decades.

What does a Belted Kingfisher eat?

Mainly fish, caught by diving from a perch or from a hover. In North America it also takes crayfish, frogs, tadpoles and large insects. The wintering Lancashire bird fished rivers, a canal and a lake.

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