Young kingfishers

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

This article features some photos of a young kingfisher just after it had left the nest tunnel. Usually, a few sit on the branch, and if you're lucky there are three or four together.

The young birds are immediately lured away from the branch with a small fish, or chased away, and lured to a safe place in the bushes around the nest tunnel. At first, they seem as if they have had a few too many drinks. They are very wobbly. It also seems as if they have hiccups, but after a while that gets better.

They are already practising diving, catching sticks or a piece of reed, and sometimes even a small fish, which they regularly lose. There are also some thorough grooming sessions straight away. Everything, of course, needs to be neat and in place, as well as protective.

One youngster is bolder at diving than another. While one dives regularly, its brother or sister sits watching how it is done. If you have been following the bird's way of life for years, I personally find it perhaps even more interesting than its appearance.

Camera settings: 1/640, f/4, ISO400, 600mm.

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