Stats

Lifespan: 6-14 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Freshwater wetland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

A stocky, blue-gray bird with a shaggy crest and a dagger-like bill, often seen hovering over water before plunging in headfirst to snatch fish. Unusually for birds, the female is more colorful than the male, sporting an extra rust-colored band across her belly.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2.
hatchling
A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Genus: Megaceryle
Species: Megaceryle alcyon