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04 Martin Pecheur 20 01 24 Halois Belgium Luc viatour🐦

Photo: Luc Viatour · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesCoraciiformesAlcedinidae
Birds

🐦Common Kingfisher

Alcedo atthis (Linnaeus, 1758)

The common kingfisher, also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
60
Photos
2
Measurements
10
vs you
≈ 1/1,990th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2024.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
0.03 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
21 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Common Kingfisher

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.03 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.03 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.07 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.04 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.01 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
21 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Riverine
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Insessorial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Common Kingfisher yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderCoraciiformes
  5. ›familyAlcedinidae
  6. ›genusAlcedo
  7. ›speciesAlcedo atthis
Full lineage
  1. superclassSarcopterygii
  2. superclassTetrapoda
  3. orderSauria
  4. classBirds · Aves
All 9 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
More

More about the Common Kingfisher

Closest relative on this site
🐦 European Bee-eater — last shared an ancestor ≈ 61 million years ago.
In other languages
普通翠鸟 (zh), zimorodek zwyczajny (pl), Alcedo atthis (es), jégmadár (hu), Αλκυόνη (el), kungsfiskare (sv) … and 28 more languages
More photos
04 Martin Pecheur 20 01 24 Halois Belgium Luc viatourAlcedo Atthis
All 2 photos in the gallery →

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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Scaling lab

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Tree of life

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