Appearance
11-14 inches. The Belted Kingfisher has a shaggy crest on top of its head and a heavy, sharply pointed grey bill. They are blue-grey on their backs and white below with males having a chest band of the same blue and females having not only the blue band, but a brownish one as well. When a Belted Kingfisher flies, it holds its head up as though it were straining to see farther.
Food
The Belted Kingfisher eats mainly fish, but also eats crabs, salamanders, crayfish, lizards, mice and insects. This bird fishes by with swooping down on its prey from a perch or flying high in the air and hovering then diving down to the water.
Habits and Breeding
This is the only widespread kingfisher in North America.
The nest of the Belted Kingfisher is a burrow in a steep bank, not necessarily near the water. The tunnel into the nest chamber may be up to 15 feet in length and the chamber itself is slightly elevated from the main length of the tunnel. Both of the mated birds work at the excation. | 
