belted kingfisher
If you happen to get a glimpse of a flash of blue and white when you’re walking along the creek you could be seeing one of our more elusive birds, the Belted Kingfisher. From a distance it’s easy to mistake the powdery blue-grey coloring for a California Scrub-jay but the Belted Kingfisher is larger and has very distinctive spiky head feathers. And while you’ll find the California Scrub-jay all over the canyon, you’ll only find the Belted Kingfisher patrolling up and down the creek looking for small fish.
The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species where the female is more brightly colored than the male. In addition to the blue-grey head and back and the white throat, the females also have chestnut belly bands and flanks.