# Common Kingfisher — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Alcedo atthis*

> A kingfisher is a small, brilliantly coloured bird that hunts by diving headfirst into water for fish. The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) of Europe, Asia and North Africa is electric-blue above and orange below, with a long, dagger-like bill, and nests in tunnels dug into riverbanks.

**IUCN status:** Least Concern (IUCN); not CITES-listed  ·  **WARN range:** Europe, Asia, North Africa

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Common name | Common kingfisher (river kingfisher, Eurasian kingfisher) |
| Scientific name | Alcedo atthis |
| Family | Alcedinidae (kingfishers) |
| Body length | About 16-17 cm, roughly sparrow-sized |
| Diet | Mainly small fish, plus aquatic insects and invertebrates |
| Habitat | Clear, slow rivers, streams, canals, lakes and ponds with earth banks |
| Range | Europe, much of Asia and North Africa |
| Nesting | Tunnel dug into a vertical earth bank near water |
| IUCN status | Least Concern (not CITES-listed) |
| Notable trait | Structural blue colour and headfirst diving |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Aves
- **Order:** Coraciiformes
- **Family:** Alcedinidae
- **Genus:** Alcedo
- **Species:** Alcedo atthis

## Conservation status
- **Status:** The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and is not included on the CITES appendices. It has a very large global range across Europe, Asia and North Africa and a large overall population. It is not considered globally threatened, but it is closely tied to clean fresh water and natural riverbanks, so local populations can decline where rivers are polluted, silted or heavily engineered, and numbers fall sharply after severe winters when waters freeze.
- **Population:** Very large and widespread; no precise global figure, with multiple geographic races across its range
- **Trend:** Stable overall at the global scale, with marked local fluctuations driven by winter severity and water quality
- **Assessed:** Assessed by the IUCN as Least Concern (most recent published assessment; see IUCN Red List for the current entry)
- **CITES:** Not listed on CITES
- Because it hunts by sight and nests in earth banks, the kingfisher is a useful indicator of clean water and healthy, natural rivers.

## Key facts: Common Kingfisher
- The common kingfisher is a small riverbank bird of Europe, Asia and North Africa that dives headfirst to catch small fish.
- Its glowing blue is a structural colour created by feather microstructure scattering light, not by blue pigment.
- It nests in tunnels excavated into vertical earth banks beside water.
- It belongs to a worldwide family of more than 100 kingfisher species, not all of which fish.
- Globally it is assessed as Least Concern, but it is sensitive to water pollution and freezes in cold winters.
- Clean rivers, stable banks and healthy fish stocks are the keys to its survival.

## What does a kingfisher look like and how big is it?
The common kingfisher is a compact, big-headed, short-tailed bird about 16-17 cm long, only a little larger than a house sparrow but heavier and more thickset. Its upperparts are an intense, shifting blue-green, with a brilliant electric-blue stripe down the back that flashes as the bird flies low and fast over water. The cheeks and underparts are a rich chestnut-orange, set off by a white throat and a white patch on each side of the neck. The bill is long, straight and dagger-shaped; females typically show an orange-red base to the lower bill, while the male's bill is all black, one of the few visible differences between the sexes. The legs and feet are short and bright red. Much of the colour is structural: tiny features in the feathers scatter and reflect blue light rather than relying on blue pigment, which is why the bird seems to change shade with the angle of view. Juveniles are similar to adults but duller, with greener upperparts and darker legs. In flight the kingfisher is unmistakable, often glimpsed only as a streak of blue vanishing along a stream.

## How does a kingfisher catch fish?
Kingfishers are sit-and-wait hunters. A bird will choose a low perch, a branch, reed or post overhanging clear, slow-moving water, and watch intently for prey below. When it spots a small fish near the surface, it dives in a fast, near-vertical plunge, folding its wings and entering the water with barely a splash. The eyes are protected as it strikes, and it seizes the fish in its bill rather than spearing it. Back on the perch, the bird often beats the fish against the branch to stun it before swallowing it head-first, so the fins fold flat. Where perches are scarce, a kingfisher can also hover briefly over open water before diving. Its diet is mainly small fish such as minnows and sticklebacks, supplemented by aquatic insects, larvae, tadpoles and freshwater shrimps. Clear water is essential: the bird hunts by sight, so silt, pollution or turbulence that clouds a river makes fishing difficult. A kingfisher may swallow many small fish a day, and the indigestible bones and scales are later coughed up as pellets, much as owls do.

## Where do kingfishers live and nest?
The common kingfisher is widespread across Europe, much of Asia and parts of North Africa, with several geographic races. It favours clear, slow-flowing or still fresh water, lowland rivers, streams, canals, lakes and ponds with overhanging perches and, crucially, vertical earth banks. In colder regions, populations may move to estuaries, sheltered coasts and unfrozen waters in winter, since the bird cannot fish through ice and hard winters can cause heavy losses. Kingfishers are strongly territorial, each defending a stretch of waterway, and pairs nest in a tunnel that they dig themselves into a steep, bare bank close to water. The burrow can be up to about a metre long and ends in a nesting chamber where the female lays a clutch of glossy white eggs, often six or seven. Both parents incubate and then ferry a steady stream of small fish to the growing chicks. In good conditions a pair may raise two or even three broods in a season, which helps the species recover quickly after the population crashes that follow severe winters.

## Common kingfisher vs the wider kingfisher family
| Feature | Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) | Wider family (Alcedinidae) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Size | Small, about 16-17 cm, sparrow-sized | From tiny to large (e.g. kookaburras are crow-sized) |
| Diet | Mainly small fish | Varies: fish, insects, reptiles, small mammals |
| Habitat | Clear fresh water with earth banks | Rivers, forests, woodland and dry country worldwide |
| Number of species | One species | More than 100 species across the globe |
| Hunts in water? | Yes, dives headfirst for fish | Many do not; some rarely go near water |

## What WARN does
WARN does not run field projects dedicated to the common kingfisher, which lives mostly outside the five countries where WARN and its partners work. This guide is part of WARN's free educational mission to help people understand and value wild animals. The threats that shape the kingfisher's fortunes, polluted and silted rivers, lost wetlands and degraded banks, are the same pressures of habitat loss and water quality that affect many of the animals WARN does protect, so learning about one riverbank bird sheds light on the health of freshwater life everywhere.

If this jewel of the riverbank brightened your day, a small gift helps keep WARN's free wildlife education flowing and supports the animals in our care.

## Frequently asked questions: Common Kingfisher
### Is the common kingfisher endangered?
No. The common kingfisher is assessed by the IUCN as Least Concern, meaning it is not considered globally threatened, and it is not listed on CITES. It remains widespread across Europe, Asia and North Africa. However, it depends on clean, unpolluted water and natural banks for nesting, and local numbers can fall sharply after hard winters or where rivers are polluted or canalised.

### Why is the kingfisher so blue?
The kingfisher's vivid blue is mostly a structural colour, not a pigment. Microscopic structures in the feather barbs scatter and reflect blue light while absorbing other wavelengths, an effect similar to the way the sky appears blue. Because the colour depends on how light hits the feather, the same bird can look bright blue, green or turquoise as it shifts angle, which is why a kingfisher seems to glow and flicker in flight.

### What do kingfishers eat?
The common kingfisher eats mainly small fish, such as minnows and sticklebacks, caught by diving from a perch into clear water. It also takes aquatic insects and their larvae, freshwater shrimps, tadpoles and the occasional small crustacean. A kingfisher hunts by sight, so it needs clean, unclouded water to spot prey. Indigestible scales and bones are regurgitated later as small pellets, much like the pellets produced by owls.

### How does a kingfisher dive without hurting itself?
A kingfisher dives fast and near-vertically, folding its wings just before it hits the surface so it enters with little splash. It grabs the fish in its bill rather than spearing it. The bird's eyes are protected as it strikes, and it adjusts for the way water bends light so it can judge the true position of prey beneath the surface. It then carries the catch back to a perch to subdue and swallow it head-first.

### Where do kingfishers build their nests?
Kingfishers nest in tunnels they dig themselves into steep, bare earth banks beside rivers, streams or lakes. A pair excavates a burrow that can reach about a metre in length, ending in a chamber where the female lays a clutch of glossy white eggs, often six or seven. Both parents incubate and feed the chicks a constant supply of small fish. Stable, vegetation-free vertical banks are essential nesting habitat, which is one reason heavily engineered rivers can lose their kingfishers.

### How many kinds of kingfisher are there?
The kingfisher family, Alcedinidae, contains more than 100 species worldwide, found across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas. They are far more varied than the riverside fisher many people picture: some, like the laughing kookaburra of Australia, are large birds that hunt insects, reptiles and small mammals far from water. The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is just one small, fish-eating member of this large and colourful group.

## Sources
- [Common kingfisher - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher)
- [IUCN Red List - Alcedo atthis](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22683027/89575948)
- [Kingfisher - Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/animal/kingfisher)
- [Kingfisher family (Alcedinidae) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingfisher)
- [CITES - checklist of listed species](https://checklist.cites.org/)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/kingfisher