28-484: The belted kingfisher ( Megaceryle alcyon ) is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher , native to North America. All kingfishers are placed in one family, Alcedinidae, and recent research suggests that this should be divided into three subfamilies. The first formal description of the belted kingfisher was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . He introduced
56-411: A layer of sand that provides both protection from predators and a constant temperature for the nest. Snakes may lay eggs in communal burrows, where a large number of adults combine to keep the eggs warm. Some species coil their torsos around the eggs to provide heat for incubation. Alligators and crocodiles either lay their eggs in mounds of decomposing vegetation or lay them in holes they dig in
84-417: A rufous band across the upper belly that extends down the flanks. Juveniles of this species are similar to adults, but both sexes feature the rufous band on the upper belly. Juvenile males will have a rufous band that is somewhat mottled while the band on juvenile females will be much thinner than that of adult females. The only kingfisher in the majority of its range, the belted kingfisher's breeding habitat
112-678: Is closer to the Chloroceryle American green kingfishers. The belted kingfisher's closest living relative is the ringed kingfisher ( M. torquata ), and these two in all probability originated from an African Megaceryle which colonized the Americas. The belted kingfisher is a stocky, medium-sized bird that measures between 28–35 cm (11–14 in) in length with a wingspan of between 48–58 cm (19–23 in). This kingfisher can weigh from 113 to 178 g (4.0 to 6.3 oz). The adult female averages slightly larger than
140-415: Is displayed among birds. In warm-blooded species such as bird species generally, body heat from the brooding patch of the brooding parent provides the constant temperature. Several groups, notably the megapodes , instead use heat generated from rotting vegetable material, effectively creating a giant compost heap, while crab plovers make partial use of heat from the sun. The Namaqua sandgrouse of
168-633: Is near inland bodies of waters or coasts across most of North America, within Canada, Alaska and the United States. They migrate from the northern parts of its range to the southern United States, Mexico, Central America , and the West Indies in winter. It is a rare visitor to the northern areas of Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guianas. During migration it may stray far from land; the species
196-735: Is recorded as an accidental visitor on several Pacific islands, such as Cocos Island , Malpelo Island , Hawaii , the Azores , Clarion Island , and has occurred as an extremely rare vagrant in Ecuador, Greenland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The southernmost records of M. alcyon are from the Galapagos Archipelago , insular Ecuador , where it occurs as a migrant in small numbers but apparently not every year. It leaves northern parts of its range when
224-800: The New World . It was believed that the entire group evolved in the Americas, but this seems not to be true. The original ancestor possibly evolved in Africa – at any rate in the Old World – and the Chloroceryle species are the youngest ones. Evidence from molecular phylogenetic studies suggests that the Cerylinae originated in Asia and have colonised the New World on two occasions: the first time
252-568: The binomial name Alcedo alcyon . The current genus Megaceryle was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. Megaceryle is from the Ancient Greek megas , "great", and the existing genus Ceryle . The specific alcyon is Latin for "kingfisher". The Megaceryle large green kingfishers were formerly placed in Ceryle with the pied kingfisher , but the latter
280-448: The brown kiwi ). In these latter, the incubation is interrupted; the longest uninterrupted period is 64 to 67 days in the emperor penguin . In general smaller birds tend to hatch faster, but there are exceptions, and cavity nesting birds tend to have longer incubation periods. It can be an energetically demanding process, with adult albatrosses losing as much as 83 g of body weight a day. Megapode eggs take from 49 to 90 days depending on
308-491: The adult male. This species has a large head with a shaggy crest . Its long, heavy bill is black with a grey base. These features are common in many kingfisher species. This kingfisher shows reverse sexual dimorphism , with the female more brightly coloured than the male. Both sexes have a slate blue head, large white collar, a large blue band on the breast, and white underparts. The back and wings are slate blue with black feather tips with little white dots. The female features
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#1732798328046336-453: The deserts of southern Africa , needing to keep its eggs cool during the heat of the day, stands over them drooping its wings to shade them. The humidity is also critical, because if the air is too dry the egg will lose too much water to the atmosphere, which can make hatching difficult or impossible. As incubation proceeds, an egg will normally become lighter, and the air space within the egg will normally become larger, owing to evaporation from
364-431: The egg, after the egg's formation and ovipositional release. Egg incubation is done under favorable environmental conditions, possibly by brooding and hatching the egg. Multiple and various factors are vital to the incubation of various species of animal. In many species of reptile for example, no fixed temperature is necessary, but the actual temperature determines the sex ratio of the offspring . In birds in contrast,
392-403: The egg. During incubation, the inner layers of the shell are dissolved by their acidic environment and the calcium carbonate that had been part of the shell is incorporated into the skeleton of the foetus. Experiments with great tits show that females compensate for the potential effects of differential heating by moving the eggs homogeneously within the clutch. In the species that incubate,
420-418: The eggs are inserted. Other neotropical frogs in the family Hemiphractidae also have pouches in which the eggs develop, in some species directly into juvenile frogs and in others into tadpoles that are later deposited in small water bodies to continue their development. The male Darwin's frog carries the eggs around in his mouth until metamorphosis , and the female stomach-brooding frog of Australia swallows
448-469: The female curls around them. The incubation period is divided into three phases. In the first phase, the embryo has no functional organs and relies on the yolk sac for sustenance. The yolk is absorbed by the developing young. During the second phase, the digits develop. In the last phase, the egg tooth appears. Methods of incubation vary widely among the many different kinds of reptiles. Various species of sea turtles bury their eggs on beaches under
476-408: The female's first clutch, but if she lays a second, she incubates it herself. In hoatzins , some birds (mostly males) help their parents incubate later broods. The incubation period, the time from the start of uninterrupted incubation to the emergence of the young, varies from 11 days (some small passerines and the black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoos ) to 85 days (the wandering albatross and
504-472: The ground. Fish generally do not incubate their eggs. However, some species mouthbrood their eggs, not eating until they hatch. Some amphibians brood their eggs. The female salamander Ensatina ( Ensatina eschscholtzii ) curls around the clutch of eggs and massages individual eggs with her pulsating throat. Some aquatic frogs such as the Surinam toad ( Pipa pipa ) have pouches in their skin into which
532-400: The kingfisher flies about its habitat, it frequently emits a characteristic rattling call. Accordingly, a small group of belted kingfishers is known as a rattle, concentration, or kerfuffle. This bird nests in a horizontal tunnel made in a river bank or sand bank and excavated by both parents. The female lays five to eight eggs and both adults share the task of incubating the eggs and feeding
560-405: The last egg of the clutch, causing the young to hatch simultaneously. Incubation periods for birds: The only living mammals that lay eggs are echidnas and platypuses . In the latter, the eggs develop in utero for about 28 days, with only about 10 days of external incubation (in contrast to a chicken egg, which spends about one day in tract and 21 days externally). After laying her eggs,
588-429: The mound and ambient temperature. Even in other birds, ambient temperatures can lead to variation in incubation period. Normally the egg is incubated outside the body. However, in one recorded case, the egg incubation occurred entirely within a chicken. The chick hatched inside and emerged from its mother without the shell, leading to internal wounds that killed the mother hen. Embryo development remains suspended until
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#1732798328046616-486: The onset of incubation. The freshly laid eggs of domestic fowl, ostrich, and several other species can be stored for about two weeks when maintained under 5 °C. Extended periods of suspension have been observed in some marine birds. Some species begin incubation with the first egg, causing the young to hatch at different times; others begin after laying the second egg, so that the third chick will be smaller and more vulnerable to food shortages. Some start to incubate after
644-482: The sex of offspring is genetically determined, but in many species a constant and particular temperature is necessary for successful incubation. Especially in poultry , the act of sitting on eggs to incubate them is called brooding. The action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs is also called broodiness , and most egg -laying breeds of poultry have had this behavior selectively bred out of them to increase production. A wide range of incubation habits
672-494: The tunnel. Water kingfisher Megaceryle Ceryle Chloroceryle The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers , and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers . All six American species are in this subfamily. These are all specialist fish-eating species, unlike many representatives of the other two subfamilies, and it is likely that they are all descended from fish-eating kingfishers which founded populations in
700-545: The water freezes; in warmer areas, it is a permanent resident. A few individuals may linger in the north even in the coldest winters except in the Arctic , if there are remaining open bodies of water. The belted kingfisher is often seen perched prominently on trees, posts, or other suitable watchpoints close to water before plunging in headfirst after its fish prey. They also eat amphibians, molluscs, small crustaceans , insects, small mammals, small birds, reptiles and berries. As
728-531: The work is divided differently between the sexes. Possibly the most common pattern is that the female does all the incubation, as in the Atlantic canary and the Indian robin , or most of it, as is typical of falcons . In some species, such as the whooping crane , the male and the female take turns incubating the egg. In others, such as the cassowaries , only the male incubates. The male mountain plover incubates
756-415: The young. During the breeding season, males may also exhibit a strong degree of territoriality in the immediate vicinity of their nest, chasing away conspecifics and predators alike. The nest of the belted kingfisher is a long tunnel and often slopes uphill. One possible reason for the uphill slope is that, in case of flooding, the chicks will be able to survive in the air pocket formed by the elevated end of
784-455: Was around 8 million years ago by the Chloroceryle and the second time was around 1.9 million years ago by the common ancestor of the ringed kingfisher and the belted kingfisher in the genus Megaceryle . The subfamily Cerylinae contains nine kingfisher species and is divided into three genera: Incubate (bird) Egg incubation is the process by which an egg , of oviparous (egg-laying) animals, develops an embryo within
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