Editing Common kingfisher (section)

===Survival===
The early days for fledged juveniles are more hazardous; during its first dives into the water, about four days after leaving the nest, a fledgling may become waterlogged and drown.<ref name = Fry/> Many young will not have learned to fish by the time they are driven out of their parents' territory, and only about half survive more than a week or two. Most kingfishers die of cold or lack of food, and a severe winter can kill a high percentage of the birds. Summer floods can destroy nests or make fishing difficult, resulting in starvation of the brood. Only a quarter of the young survive to breed the following year, but this is enough to maintain the population. Likewise, only a quarter of adult birds survive from one breeding season to the next. Very few birds live longer than one breeding season.<ref name = rspbst>{{cite web| title= Survival and threats | work= Kingfisher | url= https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/kingfisher/threats/ | publisher= [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] |access-date=23 August 2008 }}</ref> The oldest bird on record was 21 years.<ref name = euringt>{{cite web| title= Longevity list of birds ringed in Europe | work= Kingfisher | url= http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm | publisher= EURING |access-date=23 August 2008 }}</ref>

Other causes of death are cats, rats, collisions with vehicles and windows, and human disturbance of nesting birds, including riverbank works with heavy machinery. Since kingfishers are high up in the food chain, they are vulnerable to build-up of chemicals, and river pollution by industrial and agricultural products excludes the birds from many stretches of otherwise suitable rivers that would be habitats.<ref name = rspbst/>

This species was killed in Victorian times for stuffing and display in glass cases and use in hat making. English naturalist [[William Yarrell]] also reported the country practice of killing a kingfisher and hanging it from a thread in the belief that it would swing to predict the direction in which the wind would blow.<ref name= Cocker/> Persecution by anglers and to provide feathers for fishing flies were common in earlier decades,<ref name="Coward"/> but are now largely a thing of the past.<ref name = rspbst/>