Common kingfisher

Common kingfisher
♂ A. atthis from Maharashtra, India
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Alcedinidae
Subfamily:	Alcedininae
Genus:	Alcedo
Species:	A. atthis
Binomial name
Alcedo atthis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Breeding range      Resident all year-round      Non-breeding range

The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 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.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Gracula atthis. The modern binomial name derives from the Latin , "kingfisher" (from Greek , halcyon) and Atthis, a beautiful young woman of Lesbos, and favourite of Sappho.

The genus Alcedo comprises a number of small, exclusively fish-eating kingfishers. The common kingfisher’s closest relatives in the genus are three similar blue-backed, orange-breasted species, the blue-eared, half-collared and Blyth's kingfishers.

This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied large-headed and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western European subspecies, A. a. ispida has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. It is about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long with a wingspan of 25 cm (9.8 in), and weighs 34–46 grams (1.2–1.6 oz).