Kingfishers are a sign of leafy surroundings and clean water. Eleven species are found in Bangladesh, among them the white-throated, or white-breasted, kingfisher, named for its white chin, throat and breast; males and females look much alike.
Besides fish, Prothom Alo notes, it hunts small rodents, insects, locusts, dragonflies, snakes, frogs and small lizards. Photographer Hasan Mahmud followed one such hunter at Balarampur in Pabna Sadar.
The pictures show the bird waiting on a branch, diving the moment its sharp eyes spot prey and flying off with its catch. Unable to eat on a thin branch swaying in the wind, it takes off again, then settles with the prey in its beak and works to swallow it.
Around fields and ponds the kingfisher also eats insects and rodents, so its presence in the countryside is one sign that the water and the land around it are in good shape.
Photographs: Hasan Mahmud, Prothom Alo (in the original report).
Photo: Fabian Roudra Baroi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Prothom Alo
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