Belted Kingfishers on the Great Miami River

Belted Kingfishers are river birds, so it's no surprise I'd see a few while canoeing, but on the Great Miami River last Saturday I saw a lot--many more than I usually see along the Little Miami River, but even though they were always near us, flying around and vocalizing, I'm convinced their maniacal laughter was nothing more than taunting, and they were laughing at me in the most devious way, knowing I'd never get a crisp photo of them as they whizzed past and stayed just out of range...

...a male Belted Kingfisher surveys the water from a dead snag along the Great Miami River.

...a female Belted Kingfisher flies past us as we canoe down the river. Belted Kingfishers are one of the few birds where the female is more colorful than the male. She has an extra "belt" of rufous or rusty orange around her middle. The males just have one dark belt around their chests.

...sometimes Belted Kingfishers are described as being a drab slate blue, but when they spread their tail feathers, those white bars and spots are anything but drab...

I can still hear that bird laughing as he whipped past us...taunting, I tell you...taunting!

...a male and female Belted Kingfisher sit together along the Great Miami River in a dead and downed tree. Belted Kingfishers form pair bonds and are monogamous. Males defend their territory with vigor. Shortly after I snapped this photo, the male chased off an interloper vocalizing and battling on the wing.

Belted Kingfishers are such interesting birds, and I see or hear one every time I walk my patch along the Little Miami River, but after all this time I've never seen a nesting site. Maybe it's because Belted Kingfishers make tunnel nests in the riverbank, which are a little hard to see from a trail. They burrow into the vertical walls of dirt that edge the river, forming tunnels from two to ten feet. While canoeing the Great Miami River, I saw lots of Bank Swallow holes in the vertical dirt walls along the river and wondered if the Belted Kingfisher's nesting hole looked similar. I didn't see any of the kingfishers flying into any of the holes, but it's probably too late in the season anyway. Next spring I'd like to get out on the Great Miami and see if I can find a kingfisher's nesting tunnel.