Odd kingfisher at Fort Morgan, and DFO Big Year update - #350

[David Suddjian]

Hi,

I'd welcome comment on this oddly plumaged female Belted Kingfisher (see below) which we saw on our DFO field trip to Morgan County on Oct 23. She was involved in intense chasing with another female at the pond at Riverside Park in Fort Morgan, and was rarely out of motion. In the early morning light I did not notice her coloration as she flew fast around the area, but at a rare perched moment I grabbed a few digiscopes and see two rusty bands, where the upper band is ordinarily blue. I don't recall seeing this before, and some limited checking does not make reference to this coloration. Dale Pate took a flight photo of the other female that was involved with this one, and it shows a normal coloration.

This checklist has some recordings of the kingfishers, too (also with traffic noise, Blue Jays, etc):

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49410395

We had a fun trip in Morgan County, then detoured to Boulder County for the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. It was #350 for DFO's Big Year. 

http://dfobirds.org/FieldTrips/Reports/AnnualChronological.aspx

DFO has lots of great trips coming up and many still with space available for registration. All are free.

http://dfobirds.org/FieldTrips/UpcomingTrips.aspx

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

[Jessi Oberbeck]

Just for arguments sake, what makes it a Belted and not a Ringed?

Jessi Oberbeck 

Westminster, Co

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[Brandon]

Ringed is huge in size, and their bill too, plus all orange underparts.  

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Brandon Percival
Pueblo West, CO

[Joey Angstman]

Hybrid?

Joey Angstman
Greeley CO

[David Suddjian]

We did not notice anything about unusual size at the time. The calls sounded typical for Belted.

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 8:34 PM Joey Angstman <jangs...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hybrid?

Joey Angstman
Greeley CO

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[Todd Deininger]

Juvenile, check out this pic

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Todd Deininger
Longmont, CO

[Steingraeber,David]

Juveniles have rusty feathers in their breast bands. The Birds of North America account for Belted Kingfisher contains this description for juveniles:

Compared to adults, juveniles (birds in Juvenile plumage) have a darker crest, more white in the wing coverts, larger white tips on secondaries, and white spots on the central pair of rectrices (like adult females), and more cinnamon or brown color in their slaty breast band (Ridgway 1914b).

(As an aside, the BNA account's first author is Jeff Kelly, whose PhD work on Belted Kingfishers was done here at CSU.)

Multiple photos in Cornell's Macaulay Library show birds with similar rusty pectoral bands: https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=belkin1&mediaType=Photo&sort=rating_desc&__hstc=26441058.ab8f706b79b79fc3e5185ffe2a8f0092.1540436527033.1540436527033.1540436527033.1&__hssc=26441058.8.1540436527035&__hsfp=548646774

Both the Crossley Guide and the Stokes Field Guide also note this feature for juveniles.

Dave Steingraeber

Fort Collins

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From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Todd Deininger <goldene...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2018 8:53:22 PM
To: David Suddjian
Cc: jangs...@gmail.com; co-birds
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Odd kingfisher at Fort Morgan, and DFO Big Year update - #350

 

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