Green Kingfisher

About the Green Kingfisher

The Green Kingfisher is the smallest of the three North American kingfishers - barely bigger than a large sparrow, oily green above with a white collar, a dagger of a bill that looks a size too large, and white outer tail flashes in flight. The male wears a broad rusty chest band; the female shows green spotting instead.

Unlike the loud, rattling Belted Kingfisher, the Green is quiet and easy to miss, perching low on a snag or overhanging branch inches above clear water, bobbing its head before tipping into a short, shallow dive after minnows. Its call is a dry, pebbly clicking, more insect than bird.

In Texas the Green Kingfisher is a year-round resident of clear streams and rivers from the Rio Grande Valley up through the Hill Country - one of the specialty birds that draws birders to Central and South Texas, and always a patience bird to photograph.