Crabs usually make up a fair proportion of their diet during this time. Recently I watched three birds roosting on a power pole on Anthony road, I watched the birds for roughly 20 minutes but did not see them take any food which got me thinking about whether there is much food for these birds in the wetland. Kingfishers are opportunistic feeders and are unlike many specialist kingfishers in other parts of the world that take mainly fish. With the restoration of Bexley Wetland the increase in diversity of habitat should hopefully lead to an increase in diversity and abundance of prey. With a little more brackish water flowing back into Bexley the colonisation of crabs should increase the food available to these birds.
Kingfishers usually nest in holes in partially rotten trees or in holes in clay banks.
Once a nest site is excavated it can be used for many years. Watching Kingfishers dart quickly from their perch to pick up crabs off the mudflat and flying back to the same perch they flew from to devour their prey is one of the joys of watching this stout little character. Always alert, always on the hunt. There is a small breeding population that nest around the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. Although in their favour, they are renowned to be very aggressive during the breeding season.