Post is part of the project- Birds in the neighborhood. | Bird 51

It is also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher

The location of the sighting and photographs is Munzala Dam Spillway and Reservoir, District: Yavatmal.

I have extended the definition of neighborhood to include any place I visit as Earth is my home. Earlier, up to bird 47, all the clicks were taken around 100 feet from my home in Warora (Dist: Chandrapur).

Common Kingfisher is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied, large-headed, and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western European subspecies, A. a. ispida has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. It is about 16 cm long with a wingspan of 25 cm , and weighs 34–46 g. The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue “flash” down its back.

(The paragraph taken form Wikipedia)