Editing Common kingfisher (section)

==Description==
This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied, large-headed, and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western [[Europe]]an subspecies, ''A. a. ispida'' has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red.<ref name= Fry/> It is about {{convert|16|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long with a wingspan of {{convert|25|cm|in|0|abbr=on}},<ref name= Fry/> and weighs {{convert|34|-|46|g|oz|frac=16|abbr=on}}.<ref name =BWP/> The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower [[mandible]] is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black.<ref name="Fry" /> Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.<ref name =BWP/>

In North Africa, Europe and [[Asia]] north of the [[Himalayas]], this is the only small blue kingfisher. In south and southeast Asia, it can be confused with six other small blue-and-rufous kingfishers, but the rufous ear patches distinguish it from all but juvenile [[blue-eared kingfisher]]s; details of the head pattern may be necessary to differentiate the two species where both occur.<ref name= Fry/>

The common kingfisher has no song. The flight call is a short, sharp whistle ''chee'' repeated two or three times. Anxious birds emit a harsh, ''shrit-it-it'' and nestlings call for food with a churring noise.<ref name= Fry/>

===Geographical variation===
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
There are seven subspecies differing in the hue of the upperparts and the intensity of the rufous colour of the underparts; size varies across the subspecies by up to 10%. The races resident south of the [[Wallace Line]] have the bluest upperparts and partly blue ear-patches.<ref name= Fry/><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title=Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers | work=World Bird List Version 7.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rollers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 May 2017 }}</ref>
* ''A. a. ispida'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>. Breeds from [[Ireland]], [[Spain]] and southern [[Norway]] to [[Romania]] and western [[Russia]] and winters south to [[Iraq]] and southern [[Portugal]].
* ''A. a. atthis''. Breeds from northwestern Africa and southern [[Italy]] east to [[Afghanistan]], [[Kashmir region]], northern [[Xinjiang]], and [[Siberia]]; it is a winter visitor south to [[Israel]],<ref>Arnold, Paula: ''Birds of Israel,'' (1962), Shalit Publishers Ltd., Haifa, Israel. p. 12</ref> northeastern [[Sudan]], [[Yemen]], [[Oman]] and [[Pakistan]]. Compared to ''A. a. ispida'', it has a greener crown, paler underparts and is slightly larger.
* ''A. a. bengalensis'' <small>[[Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1788</small>. Breeds in southern and eastern Asia from [[India]] to [[Indonesia]], [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]] and eastern [[Mongolia]]; winters south to Indonesia and the [[Philippines]]. It is smaller and brighter than the European races.
* ''A. a. taprobana'' <small>[[Otto Kleinschmidt|Kleinschmidt]], 1894</small>. Resident breeder in [[Sri Lanka]] and southern India. Its upperparts are bright blue, not green-blue; it is the same size as ''A. a. bengalensis''.
* ''A. a. floresiana'' <small>[[Richard Bowdler Sharpe|Sharpe]], 1892</small>. Resident breeder from Bali to Timor. Like ''A. a. taprobana'', but the blues are darker and the ear-patch is rufous with a few blue feathers.
* ''A. a. hispidoides'' <small>[[René-Primevère Lesson|Lesson]], 1837</small>. Resident breeder from [[Sulawesi]] to [[New Guinea]] and the islands of the western [[Pacific Ocean]]. Plumage colours are deeper than in ''A. a. floresiana'', the blue on the hind neck and rump is purple-tinged and the ear-patch is blue.
* ''A. a. solomonensis'' <small>[[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Rothschild]] and [[Ernst Hartert|Hartert]], 1905</small>. Resident breeder in the [[Solomon Islands]] east to [[San Cristobal (Solomon Islands)|San Cristobal]]. The largest southeast Asian subspecies, it has a blue ear-patch and is more purple-tinged than ''A. a. hispidoides'', with which it interbreeds.