KC Tsang’s earlier post of a Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) bashing a fish it caught is supplemented here by photographer Lee Tiah Khee’s image of another Common Kingfisher in the act of bashing a fish it just caught against its perch.
Note that the bird again has the tail end of the fish clamped in its bill and is bashing the head against the perch. The force is so great that the image clearly shows the resulting spray of water droplets and probably also fish scales flying all over.
Such bashing, besides stunning or even killing the fish, breaks its bones and spines that may otherwise stick in its digestive tract with serious consequences. Despite such precautions, not a few kingfishers have been found dead due to fish bone injuries.
Image by Lee Tiah Khee.
This post is a cooperative effort between www.naturepixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.
