📸 PhotoPhoto: Artemy Voikhansky · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Common Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis (Common Kingfisher · カワセミ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its body length of 17 cm is slightly shorter than the short side of a sheet of A4 paper (21 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it must eat food amounting to about 60% of its body weight each day, it staunchly defends its territory and is regarded as an indicator of freshwater ecosystem health.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Common Kingfisher is a small blue bird that catches fish along the water's edge and is a summer visitor or resident breeding throughout Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its upperparts are glossy bluish green with a vivid blue back, its underparts are orange, and its legs are red. Males have an all-black bill, whereas females have a reddish-brown lower mandible.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Perching on a waterside branch, it dives into the water to snatch small fish and beats its prey against the perch to stun it before swallowing. It digs a horizontal burrow into an earthen bank to nest, laying 4–7 eggs in April–August (months 4–8) that both parents take turns incubating.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
In the National List of Species of Korea, it is listed as a summer visitor or resident that commonly breeds nationwide.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22683027/264589271
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 264589271
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000001894 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000001894
- • wikidata.org — Q79915
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Alcedo Atthis.jpg
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Alcedo atthis
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Steven Traver · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.