As far as these Kingfishers are concerned, the girls are the pretty ones and the boys have to make do without the namesake rust-colored belt. Wiki calls it reverse sexual dimorphism.
As seen on the island at South Lake in Golden Gate Park, 40th Ave and Lincoln:
Click to expand
This is the closest I’ve ever been to a Belted Kingfisher, as seen through one of these, which cost 100 times as much as the tripod I used it on. (I can’t be lugging monstrous $700 carbon fiber tripods all over town easily so these days I only have lenses in the 6-pounds-and-under-category. Tripods are not for me, I’ve decided.)
Tags: 2011, bay area, belt, Belted, Belted Kingfisher, Belted Kingfishers, bird, california, Dimorphism, female, golden gate park, Kingfisher, Kingfishers, Megaceryle alcyon, red, reverse, Reverse Sexual Dimorphism, rust, San Francisco, sexual, south lake
