The Belted kingfisher, a water bird, is the only species commonly found in the United States. This bird is 11 to 14 inches (28 to 36 centimeters) long. Its upper parts and wings are colored deep Blue, or bluish-grey with white markings. The underparts are white, and there is a broad collar of white, around the neck. There is also a blue-grey band across the breast. the female has a rust-colored band below the blue-grey one.

The Belted kingfisher may spend long hours sitting on a branch alongside a body of water watching for small fish that swim near the surface. Then, sometimes hovering for a moment in midair, the bird dives after a fish. Kingfishers usually size their food, but they sometimes fish with their long bills. Then the fish tossit into the air,
cought, and swallowed headfirst. Kingfishers also eat crayfishs, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, and insects.

Belted kingfishers burrow in the steep walls of river-banks