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- Kingfisher is the common name for any
member of a family of birds that have large heads, often with
crests.
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- The bills of kingfishers are variable,
depending on their food. Not all kingfishers feed on fish; a
large number of forest-living species eat non-aquatic invertebrates
and small vertebrates.
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- One species of kingfisher can
catch its fish in under 15 seconds.
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- There are about 86 species of Kingfisher.
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- Male and female differ slightly in
appearance from some species.
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- Unusually for diving birds, kingfishers
do not actually swim.
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- The river kingfisher of Eurasia south of
Scandinavia is difficult to see as it flashes across river water
to catch fish. Its colouration resembles that of the closely-related
European bee-eater-mostly blue and orange-and similarly nests
in burrows it digs out of river banks.
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