說明/ 普遍留鳥，羽色艷麗，全長約16 公分。生活在溪澗、河川、池塘或渠道的岸邊，常貼近水面做直線飛行。雌雄鳥羽色大致相同，附圖為雄鳥，雌鳥嘴喙上黑下紅，與雄鳥全黑有明顯區別。嘴喙較長，以俯衝入水中捕捉小魚為主食，有釣魚翁（台語）之稱。領域性強，繁殖期會在岸邊土堤鑿洞為巢。本校寧靜湖四周因全為水泥堤岸，翠鳥改利用下游堤岸邊坡廢棄之排水管營巢，繁殖期約為3 到7 月。飛行時常發出尖銳且拉長之「嘰–」聲。（陸維元攝）

A common resident bird with brilliant plumage, about 16 cm in lengt h. It inhabits streams, rivers, ponds, or banks, often flying in straight lines close to the water surface. Both sexes share largely identical plumage color, a male is shown in the picture. The female has an orange-red tinge to the lower part of the beak, clearly differentiating it from the male. It has a longer beak, convenient for diving into water to catch small fish, a behavior that gives it the name kingfisher. Highly territorial, it makes its nest in a burrow excavated in a riverbank during the breeding season. As the banks of Tranquility Lake are covered in concrete, common kingfishers make their nests in deserted pipes in the downstream areas. The breeding season runs from March to July. In flight, it often makes sharp and elongated “chee” calls. (Photo courtesy of Lu Wei-yuan)