Ran down by the river this morning and my running partner said “Oh, look at the hummingbird!” and then “WTF? What IS that?”
It hovered like a hummingbird but was much, much bigger - like maybe chickadee size? It’s possible it could have been bigger. It would fly like a normal little bird for a bit and then hover over the water by flapping its wings really fast. Didn’t see it dive or anything, but it might when we weren’t looking. When it hovered, it also spread its tail into a fan. I think but am not sure that it was a dark bird but had white edges to the tail when it fanned it out that way.
This is in South Carolina. I didn’t notice any crest or unusual plumage, and it definitely wasn’t brightly colored. I think there were two of them. I dunno, I’d just run a long ways and I’m not good with birds. (At the end of our cooldown we saw a great blue heron doing its heron thing with no concern whatsoever about all the runners and cyclists and everything not ten feet away! Very cool.)
Kingbirds hunt flying insects, but I’ve seen them drink on the fly and scoop up gliding aquatic insects as well. Fearless little things (hence the name). Wouldn’t surprise me if one picked up a minnow near the surface.
I think the while tail edges nearly guarantee a kingbird. Field guides and species maps aren’t gospel, but rely on reports from both experts and amatuers, and everything from weather events to habitat alteration can move a species’ boundaries.
If it were a kingbird (which it sounds like by your description), it most likely was an eastern kingbird. We have one at our retention pond. It sits on a bush near the water and flies after the insects. We also have a belted kingfisher, but I doubt that is what you saw.