Belted Kingfishers

The only type of kingfisher in the Pacific Northwest, this bird spends a lot of its time perched in the buffer trees we protect along waterways as it searches for prey. However, when nesting these birds dig burrows into banks. Kingfishers especially enjoy eating minnow-sized fish, which they capture by darting head-first into the water. They also eat crayfish, tadpoles, insects, mice and smaller birds. To teach their young to fish, they drop dead fish in the water.