Kingfisher (kotare)
Our sacred kingfisher or kotare is a cousin of the kookaburra in Australia. It’s ancestors flew here from Australia around 10,000 years ago.
Don’t be fooled by the kingfisher’s name, because they don’t just eat fish - they eat skinks, silvereyes, spiders, earthworms, mice and even crabs!
So how does a kingfisher eat a crab? The short answer is: with brute force.
They have been known to fling their prey against fence-posts, or against tree trunks as can be seen in these pictures* below.
After the shell has been broken up, the crab goes ‘down-in-one’ and then the shell is vomited up later. How nifty is that?
Breeding and family life
The kingfisher chooses a partner, and they stay together for the rest of their lives. When they are ready to start a familythey don’t make a nest in the tree – they hammer a hole in a rotten tree trunk, or clay cliff.
To make this hollow they will fly at full force with their neck-outstretched at the cliff. Scientists have found that this family of birds have special skulls that allow them to do this! Maybe they should be called hammer-heads?
Kingfisher can be found throughout New Zealand and live in all different types of country from sheltered coasts, marine harbours to wetlands and open forest country.
Kingfishers like to perch on telephone wires or on tree tops surveying their hunting ground so if you trying to see them, look up high!
* Pictures: Tom Marshall
