50. The Kingfisher

It is small in size but big in colour. The kingfisher (M: ghasfur ta' San Martin) is blue, green, tourqoise, orange, white and black. And with tiny, bright red legs. The bird is mostly head and beak, with a small compact body and very short tail. It is perfectly built for its arrow-diving fishing technique. It eats fish, yet it does not really swim. It hunts its prey with its eyes from a perch low over the water, then dives, grabs the fish and flies back to its perch: it's all over in a flash and a splash. Kingfishers are frequent visitors to Malta. Most just pass through on their migration, and stop for a rest, sometimes staying at the shore and not even bothering to travel inland. In suitable places, however, like Is-Simar, Ghadira and Salina, two or three kingfishers regularly spend the winter, feasting on killifish. They have never nested yet. Kingfishers are protected under Maltese law.     

Text by Victor Falzon, picture by Denis Cachia.
 

Copyright to Birdlife Malta.