The Chronicle’s Beak of the Week for Saturday, June 24 is the belted kingfisher.
These grayish blue, stocky birds are between the size of a robin and a small crow. They’re excellent fisherbirds, and they spend most of the day on branches above lakes, rivers and streams.
According to the Cornell Bird Lab, kingfishers nest in burrows that they dig into soft earthen banks, usually adjacent to or directly over water. They spend winters where bodies of water won’t freeze and deprive them of food to fish for.
In Chehalis, they can be found near wetlands along the Willapa Hills Trail and near Yard Birds.
Beak of the Week is produced by Chronicle Assistant Editor Isabel Vander Stoep. To suggest an entry, email her at isabel@chronline.com. Find past Beak of the Week entries at chronline.com.
