Kingfishers

The order Coraciiformes is made up of ten families including Kingfishers, hornbills, bee-eaters, kookaburras, rollers, and motmots. These birds are found around the world in a variety of habitats including rivers, lakes, grasslands, and woodlands.
Kingfishers and their relatives are stocky birds with big heads and small feet. Most have brightly colored feathers. All species have the three front toes joined for at least part of their length. Their wings are generally broad, but the bee-eater has long, pointed wings that allow it to perform aerial acrobatics as it catches bees. Hornbills are named after their large beaks that have helmet-shaped armor that lies on top . To support the weight of its massive beak, the top two bones in the spine are fused together.

Feeding

Most of these birds are carnivores that feed on fish, small mammals, reptiles, insects, and spiders, although hornbills eat fruit, too. The shape of the beak reflects their carnivorous diet. It is relatively heavy to enable the bird to deal with prey. Kingfishers hunt along rivers by sitting perfectly still on a perch and waiting for fish to swim close to the surface. The bird then dives head first into the water and grabs the fish into the water and grabs the fish with its spearlike beak. The kingfisher flies back to its perch, where it beats the fish against the perch to kill it.

Nesting

Most members of this order nest in cavities, such as burrows in the riverbank or hollows of trees. Most hornbills build their nests in tree hollows, although some nest on the ground. With the female inside, the entrance is sealed with mud, leaving a tiny slit through which the male can pass food to the female. The great Indian hornbill stays inside her nest for three months. She breaks out when her single egg has hatched . The chick reseals the hole and stays inside for another month, when it is ready to leave the nest.