The adult kingfisher grows to a length of four to eighteen
inches (10 to 45 centimeters) and a weight of up to 18 ounces (500 grams). The
adult kingfisher has attractive plumage, or feathers. Color combinations are
azure blue above and reddish below or light and dark blue, green, brown, white,
and black. The bill and legs are vermilion, or bright red, brown, or black. In
most species, the male and female are similar in appearance. It has two toes on
each foot that are partially webbed.
The kingfisher inhabits the interior
of rainforests, woodland areas far from water, desert steppe, grassy savannas,
streams, lakeshores, mangroves, seashores, gardens, mountain forests, and
oceanic islands. Because the diet of many kingfishers is made up of fish and
other aquatic life, it must live in areas where the water is
unpolluted.
The kingfisher eats diet of small fish such as minnows and
sticklebacks, crustaceans, frogs, and aquatic and land insects. It is possible
for a family of six kingfishers to eat up to 100 fish a day.
