# What bird was this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267 "2012-06-06T14:11:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/1 "2012-06-06T14:11:54Z")
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.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/2 "2012-06-06T14:15:24Z")
A [swallow-tailed kite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow-tailed_Kite)? ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/3 "2012-06-06T14:20:23Z")
Google images “kingbird hover”. Was this your bird? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/4 "2012-06-06T14:28:55Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > A [swallow-tailed kite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow-tailed_Kite)? No, it definitely didn’t have wings like that. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/5 "2012-06-06T14:31:45Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Google images “kingbird hover”. Was this your bird? Hmmm, that could be it. I assumed it was after fish, but of course there are insects as well. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/6 "2012-06-06T14:36:11Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Hmmm, that could be it. I assumed it was after fish, but of course there are insects as well. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/7 "2012-06-06T14:39:12Z")
Looking further it looks like it might have been a grey kingbird, but they don’t seem to really hang out here. Perhaps we saw an outlier? ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/8 "2012-06-06T14:44:58Z")
Maybe. There are a few other birds with the ability to hover that hunt over water. Olive sided flycatcher, tree swallow, bank swallow… ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/9 "2012-06-06T14:56:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/10 "2012-06-06T15:16:30Z")
It has, of course, been a very warm year. (Although not a very warm morning!) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/11 "2012-06-06T17:57:51Z")
Did it look like any of these pictures of a Kingfisher? They will hover a bit before diving. [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cp=8&gs\_id=u&xhr=t&q=belted+kingfisher&bav=on.2,or.r\_gc.r\_pw.r\_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1536&bih=695&wrapid=tljp1339005367538014&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=v5nPT8b6Cue16AGS7tWoDA](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cp=8&gs_id=u&xhr=t&q=belted+kingfisher&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1536&bih=695&wrapid=tljp1339005367538014&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=v5nPT8b6Cue16AGS7tWoDA) ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/12 "2012-06-06T19:30:19Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Did it look like any of these pictures of a Kingfisher? They will hover a bit before diving. > > [belted kingfisher - Google Search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cp=8&gs_id=u&xhr=t&q=belted+kingfisher&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1536&bih=695&wrapid=tljp1339005367538014&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=v5nPT8b6Cue16AGS7tWoDA) Must be it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/13 "2012-06-06T19:39:29Z")
I don’t think it had a crested head - it was a bird-shaped bird. ETA - and I know not all kingfishers are brightly colored, but this one definitely wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-was-this/624267/14 "2012-06-06T21:44:35Z")
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.