Discover the Common kingfisher

Question 1 · multiple choice

Which environment provides the right combination of shelter and feeding space for a Common kingfisher?

savannas, grasslands, and open woodland temperate forest, heath, and grassland with firm soil estuaries, mangroves, rivers, lagoons, and coastal seas clear slow rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes

Question 2 · multiple choice

Which menu would require the fewest changes from the normal diet of a wild Common kingfisher?

small fish and aquatic insects organic particles swallowed with sand or gathered from water mostly leaves, flowers, and seed pods reached high in trees bark, twigs, leaves, and aquatic plants

Question 3 · multiple choice

Which timing clue belongs in a field guide entry for a Common kingfisher?

most active around dawn, dusk, and night hunts mostly by day from a waterside perch often active from dusk through night but also hunts by day mostly active at night

Question 4 · multiple choice

Choose the most accurate description of a Common kingfisher in motion.

climbs headfirst down trunks using rotating ankles stalks, swims strongly, climbs, and attacks with a short rush dives headfirst and brakes underwater with wings and feet walks and makes short hops rather than long leaps

Question 5 · multiple choice

Which claim about a Common kingfisher's adaptation is scientifically accurate?

a narrow snout and tongue reaching rapidly into nests collect insects skin toxins are obtained partly from chemicals in its wild arthropod diet gas and liquid in shell chambers regulate buoyancy a streamlined bill and eye adjustments help judge prey through refracting water

Question 6 · multiple choice

Which breeding-season clue correctly points to a Common kingfisher?

eggs are laid in a tunnel excavated in a riverbank the female builds and guards a nest mound of leaves females bury eggs in gravel nests called redds eggs are inserted into aquatic plants and nymphs grow underwater

Question 7 · multiple choice

How does a Common kingfisher usually balance solitary and group life?

mostly solitary and competes around rich food sources pairs defend feeding territories during breeding packs are usually family groups built around a breeding pair forms herds or managed groups with strong social recognition

Question 8 · multiple choice

Which statement best explains the place of a Common kingfisher in a food web?

recycles nutrients and oxygenates seabed sediment prunes tree canopies and moves seeds between feeding places moves energy from aquatic prey to riverbank ecosystems creates wetlands that provide habitat for many other species

Question 9 · multiple choice

Which survival response is correctly matched to a Common kingfisher?

clan members mob threats and defend food together blocks a burrow with its tough rear end and can crush an attacker against the wall uses stealth, armoured skin, powerful jaws, and a spinning roll flies low and fast to escape danger

Question 10 · true false

True or False: A common kingfisher drumming mainly advertises territory and mates rather than searches for food.

True False