BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Kingfisher

KINGFISHER
Alcedo atthis

Conservation listings

Europe: SPEC category 3 (depleted)
UK: amber (European status)

Long-term trend

UK: fluctuating, with no long-term trend

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

The Kingfisher declined along linear waterways (its principal habitat) until the mid 1980s, since when it seems to have recovered completely. The decline was associated with a contraction of range in England (Gibbons et al. 1993). Kingfishers suffer severe mortality during harsh winters but, with up to three broods in a season, and up to six chicks in a brood, their potential for rapid recovery is unusually high.

Table of population changes for Kingfisher

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
WBS waterways	27	1975-2002	32	-1	-39	45
	25	1977-2002	31	12	-33	59
	10	1992-2002	38	17	-9	45
	5	1997-2002	37	11	-9	35
BBS UK	9	1994-2003	42	23	-16	82
BBS England	9	1994-2003	37	17	-20	73

Productivity information is not currently available for this species


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006