Belted Kingfisher

The belted kingfisher is a commonly encountered resident species of the Tittabawassee River, letting you know when you’ve entered its territory by giving a loud rattle call. Our research aims to verify that the belted kingfisher population that resides within the Tittabawassee River floodplain is not experiencing adverse effects from site-specific contaminants, specifically dioxins and furans.

Belted kingfishers possess many ideal attributes of a study species for assessing bioaccumulative compounds in the environment, including being located near the top of the aquatic food chain, having a widespread distribution, and displaying territorial foraging behavior. Additionally, because belted kingfishers burrow into the riverbank to make their nest, they may have an elevated exposure potential due to their direct contact with the soil.

To determine their dietary exposure to contaminants, site-specific diets of the belted kingfisher are determined through the collection of prey remains and observations of foraging behavior. These prey items are then collected from the study area and analyzed for contaminant concentrations. For the belted kingfisher, this includes fish, crayfish, and amphibians. These collections allow us to estimate the concentration of contaminants belted kingfishers along the Tittabawassee River are exposed to through their diet.

Contaminant concentrations in the tissues of belted kingfisher are also analyzed to verify that their exposure has been characterized correctly. Specifically for the belted kingfisher, tissues collected include eggs and nestling tissues.

The health of belted kingfisher populations is assessed through the evaluation of productivity, including nest success, clutch size, hatching success, and fledgling success.

Belted kingfisher data have been collected from reference areas in Sanford, Michigan, and the Pine and Chippewa rivers in and around the Chippewa Nature Center to downstream of Midland, Michigan, ranging to the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.

Integrating the findings from all lines of evidence will provide us with the information necessary to estimate the risk of adverse effects to belted kingfishers residing within the Tittabawassee River floodplain.