Juvenile Belted Kingfisher

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I have been watching a family of 4 Belted Kingfishers over the past 3 days. I believe there are an adult male, an adult female, and 2 juvenile birds so I suspect the parents are still teaching the young to fish. They could be fledglings as they have not shown any sustained flight, but I haven't been able to find the parent's feeding them which would confirm fledgling stage.

This pic is one of the birds in juvenal plumage. First note the relative shortness of the bill which is much shorter compared to adult kingfishers. As described in Birds of North America online, "birds in Juvenal 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." This kingfisher has all these characteristics. Since it has so much cinnamon on the breast band I think it is likely a female. I took this pic, handheld, from about 12 -15 feet away. Do double-click on the pic to get a better close-up view. SeEtta

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