Common Kingfisher

Alcedo atthis

The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is a bird found in Netherlands, France, India, Spain, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and 4 more countries. Calm rivers, streams and lakes across Europe and Asia. It eats fish and insects and other small invertebrates. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Alcedo atthis
Region	Europe
Found in	Netherlands, France, India, Spain, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and 4 more countries

🏡 Where the Common Kingfisher lives

Calm rivers, streams and lakes across Europe and Asia.

🍽️ What it eats

🐟 Fish70%
🐛 Insects & bugs30%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It dives headfirst into water to catch fish, then bashes them on a branch.

Hear the Common Kingfisher

Recorded by GIRARD (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1023418. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Common Kingfisher

Where does the Common Kingfisher live?

The Common Kingfisher lives in Netherlands, France, India, Spain, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and 4 more countries. Calm rivers, streams and lakes across Europe and Asia.

What does the Common Kingfisher eat?

fish (about 70%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 30%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Common Kingfisher endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.