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Bird

Belted Kingfisher

Megaceryle alcyon

Lives in Florida all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 21 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
21

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
21
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Florida 21

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 21

Freshwater marshes

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
SummerWinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass MarshRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp
SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; South Florida Bayhead Swamp; South Florida Cypress Dome; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress DomeRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

SummerWinterSouth Florida Hardwood Hammock; Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

SummerWinter

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterCentral Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Mangrove swamps

Tidal forests and thickets of red, black and white mangrove along sheltered tropical and subtropical shores.

SummerWinter

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

SummerWinterSouthwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock; Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock; East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

SummerWinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Forest edges and thickets

Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields
SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Deciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation
Other habitats in its models (136)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida.

  • Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Piedmont Cliff Summer, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Interior Acid Cliff Summer, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Appalachian Montane Cliff Summer, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer and winter.
  • Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Tamaulipan Mesquite Upland Scrub Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Oak Barrens Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
  • Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
  • Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
  • Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer and winter.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Forests can border streams with steep banks used for nesting; this is why the model includes upland forest classes.
  • The GAP model connects this bird with water-associated settings.
  • The GAP model includes floodplain forests and applies water-related conditions. Its separate steep-bank nesting note explains upland forest classes.

All habitats

Seasons in Florida

  • Year-round: nests here, in 61 of 67 counties.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 16 of 67 counties.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 945

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Florida. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 284

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Florida. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources