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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 06, 1961 - The Kingfishery THE KINGFISHER Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Fuleston of Brookhaven 1 I li.•.i 4 any, i! ii) l fl! / I THE KINGFISHER Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Fuleston of Brookhaven I Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh Cutchogue To most of the people living along the eastern part of bur continent there is only one Kingfisher, the Belted King- fisher. Few realize that he is only one of some 90 different species ranging in size from the small warbler to our large crow. of a bank. These holes are ob- The majority of these birds vious along the banks and bluffs live in 'the tropics and only the of Long Island. Belted Kingfisher extends his One brood of four to five white range into our area. Some of you eggs are laid each year. Later, might know this bird by the it is interesting to sneak up, un- name Halcyon, which originates observed, and watch the scurry from the old Greek fable in which to the mouth of the tunnel when Halcyon, the! daughter of Aeolus, the adult bird approaches, with threw herself into the sea be- its characteristic call announcing cause of grief over her drowned the morning meal. One bird usual - husband. ly gets there first and of course, The fable goes on to state that gets the lion's share. the Gods out of compassion Since the adult bird captures changed both the husband and all his food by using his bill, he wife into Kingfishers and here we has very little use for his feet get the Greek word Halcyon for and therefore these are ridicul- K.ingfisher. Later in this mythical ously small. This is quite in con - tale, when the Kingfishers suppos- trast to the powerful feet of the edly were incubating their eggs osprey which are used for 'catch- on the sea, they would command ing food. Here we have an exam - it to be calm and peaceful. So ple of how nature adapts itself to today we have the saying, "halc- its needs. yon days" or calm, happy, peace- Along these same lines, the ful days. young birds do not feather out This bird is one of the easiest as most birds do but retain their to identify, whether he is hovering feathers in quills until ready to in the air just before his daring fly. The reason for this is, the plunge into the water for a fish, quill- protected feathers let the or whether he is sitting on a sand and dirt run off easily, dock, post or tree just peacefully otherwise the feathers would be- surveying his territory. This terri- come clogged and dirty while tory is jealously guarded and on- scurrying about the nesting cav- lly one Kingfisher will be found ity. It is these items of interest in each fishing area. that make birding fascinating to The only time Kingfishers are so many. found together is during the mat- I spoke briefly of this bird's ing season. After the brood has characteristic of hovering over won -its wings, it is driven off the water ... A feat, by the way, and again the Kingfisher seeks" that few birds can accomplish. solitude. Think of the marvelous stunt this A dead giveaway to his identi- bird performs as he .hovers in fication is the departing rattle as the air fifteen to thirty feet he continually moves away from above the water, locates his. prey, you when you approach his look- dives for it, and comes up with out. Peterson describes him when the wiggling killie or shiner in perched as being, "big- headed his mouth. and big - billed, larger than a Rob- The arrival of the Kingfisher in in, blue -gray above, with a our area depends mainly on open ragged crest and one (male) and water. If the small estuaries of twd (female) broad -b r e a s t e d our creeks and bays open early bands." The only remotely sim- enough, we will start to see this ilar species would be a blue -jay. ardent fisherman some time in Most people interested inbirds early March. The greatest influx, know that many eons ago they though, will come from late April evolved from reptiles. and that to early June. the feathers are merely modified How long Mr Kingfisher stays scales. The Kingfisher; along with depends again upon open water. the bank swallow, has kept anoth- Usually October and November er interesting traiti.# the reptile, see most of the birds heading and that is laying its egis in South, but often times one will the ground. The nest is found at stick it out" throughout the year the extreme end of a four to making a meager living wherever fifteen foot tunnel near the top water flows. We who venture out on our Christmas count each year in the cold and wintry days of Decem- ber, look forward to finding one of these lone fishermen. Even then his hoarse rattle is a cheer- ful sound among the dead, gray, cold waterways of qcpr area. Some have argu6d that this bird has done much harm to the young fish. Trout fishermen are particularly hard on this bird be- cause they believe he eats many young trout. However, it has been proven that in a trout .stream, more good will be done by the Kingfisher removing suckers and other undesirables than by the loss of a few small trout he might take. Surely here on Long Island where we are far from most trout streams and fish hatcheries, the Belted Kingfisher should- be protected to the fullest extent of the law, for he adds much to our natural wealth. Please send your Field Obser- vabions and Comments to: Paul Stoutenburgh, RD No 1, Box 105, Cutchogue, New York.