rob7789 Loc: Florida

This is not a Ringed Kingfisher. Ringed Kingfishers are huge (bigger than a Fish Crow), have a rufous breast, and there has never been one documented in Florida. The bill is much larger on the Ringed than on the Belted. The range for the Ringed Kingfisher is the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas and Mexico. Occasionally it is seen north of that, but still in the southern half of Texas. This is a typical juvenile Belted Kingfisher. Belted Kingfishers over winter in Florida and are quite common there.

Ringed Kingfisher

phv Loc: Goleta, California

Very nice!

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Yeah, you're right. Someone, maybe on another post, thought it was a ringed kingfisher. I just retyped that without thinking. I still don't think it resembles a Belted Kingfisher. I hope to see it again to see if it changes through the season. To me the bill looks much larger than a Belted and that chest band with the green/red smudged breast band doesn't look right.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Thank you, phv. I'm glad you liked it.

Hereford Loc: Palm Coast, FL

I really hate to wade into this ID discussion. This looks like a Belted Kingfisher with blended male and female colors -- maybe a he/she hermaphrodite.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Nice shots! I’d love to get shots like that of any kind of Kingfisher.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I know what you mean, Hereford. I'm a long ways from an expert on Kingfishers, I have to rely on reference books. This guy doesn't look like anything in my reference books, but some think it's a juvenile something. I'm going to keep an eye out for him and see if he changes color through the season. My main contention is that whatever he is, he has a huge beak compared to the photos I've seen. Maybe by Winter, if he hangs around that long, I'll be able to get an updated photo and every one will be happy.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Thank you Carol. More to come, I hope.

B1rdr Loc: Northern Virginia

This looks very much like the female Belted Kingfisher that I banded a couple years ago. The colors are a little off, but location and design of the markings says female Belted Kingfisher to me. Nice photos Chief.

rob7789 Loc: Florida

I'm not sure what constitutes an expert. However, I've been birding for over 20 years, and have seen over 300 kingfishers. This is not a "blended kingfisher." Both the male and female Belted Kingfishers have slate blue breastbands and white bellies. The female has a rust belly band. Juveniles resemble the adults but have rust spotting in the (blue), breastbands.
This bird is typical example of a juvenile Belted Kingfisher.
Sibley's Guide to Birds, and National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America can support the above statement.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Thank you.
That's interesting. If so he's definitely not a juvenile. Why no red on the belly? He/ she definitely has a smudged red/green breast band that I assumed would clear up to blue in adulthood.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Thank you. But I still have questions. Does the bill not look oversized to you? It does to me. And I think the breast band is green and red, not red and blue. And there is no red on the belly as there would be in a female.
I use the same reference books and a couple more sometimes.
I'm not arguing with you, just asking questions.

Indrajeet Singh Loc: Goa, India

Nice!

rob7789 Loc: Florida

You are correct about the greenish cast on the breast band, and also the top of the head. The lighting on the bird is very poor. You may also notice that the belly has a yellowish cast to it, and it should be totally white. I think the green we are seeing is either due to the lighting, the post processing or even a slight color variation.
Last year there was a yellow Northern Cardinal that was seen. There are some House Finches that normally are red, are yellow.
The male doesn't have a belly band. So this would be a male juvie.
Another way of looking at this is, there have only been four species of kingfishers seen the the ABA area:
Belted, Green, Ringed and Amazon Kingfishers. The Green has wing bars and is seen in Texas and the southern tip of SE Arizona. The Ringed has a totally rufous belly and is seen in Texas. The Amazon has only been seen in Texas (I think two but could be three records), and is green. The Belted winters in Florida and is very common. So if a kingfisher is seen in Florida, the chances that it is not a Belted Kingfisher is very highly unlikely.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Thank you, Mr. Singh. I do appreciate it.