14 December: Kingfishers

The Halcyon Days begin today, a time associated with the kingfisher. Here are ten facts about kingfishers.

1. The seven days on either side of the Winter Solstice are known as the Halcyon Days. The myth is as follows: a couple called Alcyone and Ceyx, a pair of minor deities, got into trouble by impersonating Zeus and Hera. The penalty for this was death, but some of the gods felt sorry for them and turned them into birds. As a further act of compassion the gods decreed that the birds would be allowed a fortnight in winter when there were no storms and they'd be able to rear their young in peace. The birds they became were the first kingfishers. The term "Halcyon days" has come to mean an idyllic, peaceful time in the past.
2. Here in the UK, when we think of a kingfisher, what springs to mind is the bright Blue and Orange river kingfisher, Alcedo atthis, the only one which breeds in Europe. There are actually 87 different types throughout the world. Some of them, despite their name, don't eat fish and don't even go near Water.
3. The smallest species of kingfisher is the African pygmy kingfisher, which is around 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) long and weighs from 9 to 12 grams (0.3 to 0.4 ounces). There is a species called Alcedo hercules, which looks like a river kingfisher but is much bigger. It is not, however, the largest bird in the kingfisher family. That accolade goes to Australia’s laughing kookaburra, which is 15 times bigger than a river kingfisher.
4. All kingfishers have very good eyesight. They can even account for refraction in the water and judge exactly where their prey is before they dive. Their eye also have special membranes to protect their eyes when diving.
5. In winter, a kingfisher needs to eat around 15 or 16 minnows a day. Hence they will range quite widely looking for food, and the goldfish in your garden pond are as an attractive a meal as the minnows in the river. They'll also eat aquatic insects, dragonfly nymphs or water beetles. And the species that don't eat fish? They eat insects, Spiders and Snails and can dive down to get them on dry land. Some kingfishers migrate as far as 3,000km for the winter. The German word for kingfisher is Eisvogel (icebird), because they migrate to Germany from colder climes in the north.
6. Aside from hovering when observing prey, a kingfisher has only one flight mode - fast and straight.
7. Kingfisher nests are burrows in dirt banks, trees or Termite mounds. The male and female build a burrow together, digging out the soil with their feet. It can take as long as a week to build. The burrow usually slopes upwards so it won't flood. It will be about 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6.5 feet) long; the record is 8.5 meters (28 feet). This was the home of a breeding pair of one of the larger varieties. Despite the myth, kingfishers don't just breed around the winter solstice. They have two or three broods a year, with up to 10 chicks in a brood. This is necessary, for not all kingfisher fledglings get the diving thing straight off. A number of them drown the first time they try it. Add to that starvation in severe winters and predators (birds of prey, foxes, Raccoons, Cats and Snakes) they do need to breed profusely.
8. They don't sing, but they do make noise. Kingfishers have a variety of calls to announce their territory, warn off other birds, communicate with a mate or their chicks. The sounds they make include shrieks, screams, clicks, whistles, chuckles, rattles, and chirps.
9. The brilliant blue of a kingfisher's back isn't caused by pigment, but by the way light is reflected off the feathers, scattering blue light.
10. As well as the Victorians shooting the birds and stuffing them, there was an unpleasant custom whereby people would kill a kingfisher and hang its body outside. They believed the direction its beak pointed in was the direction of the wind. In Borneo, if a band of warriors from the Dusun tribe saw a kingfisher on their way to a battle, it was considered such a bad omen that they'd turn around and go home. Other tribes, however, saw them as good omens. The Polynesians believed Kingfishers had control over the seas and waves.

New!

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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