Great Blue Heron showing off its impressive wingspan upon landing along the lagoons in Jungle Gardens on Avery Island.

There are 93 species of Kingfishers, and this is the most common one found in the U.S., the Belted Kingfisher. They live along streams, lakes, ponds, rivers, and calm marine waters, because they mostly eat fish and crustaceans, like crawfish. Kingfishers have been around for a long time--Pleastocene fossils of Belted Kingfishers, 600,000 years old, have been found along the U.S. southern coast. The oldest known Kingfisher fossil, found in Florida, dates back 2 million years! Their nests are usually burrows in a dirt bank near water. The male an female take turns digging the burrow, that slopes up from 3 to 6 feet into the bank, probably to keep water out, ending in an unlined chamber that serves as the nest. The Beslted Kingfisher is one of the few species in which the female is more brightly colored than the male--she has a copper stripe across her chest. Source: All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Orinthology.