Bird

Belted Kingfisher

Megaceryle alcyon

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 25 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 25

Male Belted Kingfisher, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Brooke J., some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0. iNaturalist photo 747510784. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 25
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 25

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

1 of 25

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandDune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt MarshBrackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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.

SummerWinterAtlantic 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; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Freshwater tidal marshes

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

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

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)

SummerOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Southern Piedmont Cliff; Southern Appalachian Montane CliffRock outcrop on a mountain summit. Shown: Sassafras Mountain, on the North Carolina and South Carolina line, a neighboring state.Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

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.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Northern hardwood forest in winter. Shown: Baxter Creek Trail near Mount Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail, Brian Stansberry, undated. CC BY 3.0. Source record.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Southern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Regional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Spruce-fir forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. 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 and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerWinterOnly within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

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 (118)

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

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.
Southern Interior Acid Cliff Summer, 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.
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.
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.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
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.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest 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 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.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern 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.
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.
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.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest 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.
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 - Open Understory 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.
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.
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 Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore 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.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River 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.
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock 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.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest 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