kingfisher

American  

[king-fish-er] / ˈkɪŋˌfɪʃ ər /

noun

1. any of numerous fish- or insect-eating birds of the family Alcedinidae that have a large head and a long, stout bill and are usually crested and brilliantly colored.

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kingfisher British  

/ ˈkɪŋˌfɪʃə /

noun

1. any coraciiform bird of the family Alcedinidae, esp the Eurasian Alcedo atthis, which has a greenish-blue and orange plumage. Kingfishers have a large head, short tail, and long sharp bill and tend to live near open water and feed on fish

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Etymology

Origin of kingfisher

1400–50; king + fisher; replacing king's fisher, late Middle English kinges fisher

Example Sentences

"To get all the kingfisher DNA, we used specimens in the Field Museum's collections," says Eliason, who works in the Field's Grainger Bioinformatics Center and Negaunee Integrative Research Center.

From Science Daily • Oct. 24, 2023

The kingfisher abounds in Egyptian art; on the wall of the Green Room it appears amid the stems and umbels of a dense papyrus thicket at the moment it takes its helldive.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2023

He began teaching kids about his craft and got ideas from birds he spotted by day: an osprey, a kingfisher, a heron, Canada geese.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 27, 2022

By creating dams and holding water, the beavers are encouraging previously unseen species into the area such as kingfisher, stoats and waterfowl.

From BBC • Jul. 12, 2022

A part of me returned, but much of me stayed with the river and the kingfisher and the heron and the memories of my times there with Raji.

From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan