{"id":36257,"date":"2016-02-24T05:24:04","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T12:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=36257"},"modified":"2026-02-01T13:31:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T19:31:51","slug":"a-female-belted-kingfisher-and-her-rattling-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/24\/a-female-belted-kingfisher-and-her-rattling-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Belted Kingfisher and Her Rattling Call"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PerchedPerched female Belted Kingfisher – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a nearby female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah and I had fun getting to know her. Other obligations and a day of feeling sick kept me away from her but yesterday the light was good, the sky was clear, and the female Belted Kingfisher was busy moving around the small pond she has made her territory.<\/p>\n

The chestnut colored belt on her belly makes her one of the few birds in North America where the female of the species is more colorful than the male, something uncommon in the world of birds. I believe the only other species I have photographed where the female is more colorful are phalaropes,\u00a0 small shorebirds that I see often here in Utah and in Montana.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleA female Belted Kingfisher – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I usually hear Belted Kingfishers before I see them because of their rattling calls. Belted Kingfishers are noisy birds and call while they are in flight, perched or alarmed. This kingfisher called quite often while I observed and photographed her yesterday.<\/p>\n

Listen to the the call of a Belted Kingfisher here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This female Belted Kingfisher has been fishing at a small pond which is quite close to the Jordan River so she has plenty of fish available in her territory. There are areas along the Jordan River that could provide excellent nesting sites so I’m hoping she sticks around so I will be able to spend more time getting to know and photograph her as spring arrives in the Salt Lake Valley.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Belted Kingfisher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a nearby female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah and I had fun getting to know her. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[500,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,2432,6577,4935,4070,4379,5556,4934,4933,3008,4104,1984,4018,6308,4076],"class_list":["post-36257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belted-kingfishers","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-belted-kingfisher","tag-branches","tag-call","tag-female","tag-fishing","tag-jordan-river","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-perched","tag-pond","tag-sky","tag-territory","tag-trees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-female-mia-mcpherson-3836.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9qN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108672,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/11\/queenfisher-2023-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":36257,"position":0},"title":"Queenfisher – 2023 ABA Bird of the Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2023 ABA Bird of the Year was revealed yesterday evening. The bird of the year is the Queenfisher, also known as the female Belted Kingfisher.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Belted Kingfisher on her throne, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45525,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/13\/female-belted-kingfisher-looking-for-and-catching-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":36257,"position":1},"title":"Female Belted Kingfisher Looking For And Catching Prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I took several hundred images of a female Belted Kingfisher looking for and catching prey while it was bright and sunny yesterday afternoon.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Belted Kingfisher with prey, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109609,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/14\/low-light-female-belted-kingfisher\/","url_meta":{"origin":36257,"position":2},"title":"Low Light Female Belted Kingfisher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I found a perched female Belted Kingfisher while I was at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago. This was after the clouds came back in creating low light conditions.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light female Belted Kingfisher on a branch, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119907,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/18\/male-belted-kingfisher-in-my-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":36257,"position":3},"title":"Male Belted Kingfisher In My Memories","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing a male Belted Kingfisher photo that I took one year ago today. I was photographing ducks at one of my local ponds when he flew in.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Belted Kingfisher on a sunny January morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/belted-kingfisher-male-winter-mia-mcpherson-8514.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/belted-kingfisher-male-winter-mia-mcpherson-8514.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/belted-kingfisher-male-winter-mia-mcpherson-8514.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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