After an exhausting breeding season, white-throated kingfishers throughout Israel have begun to molt, shedding their old feathers for shiny new ones.
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Amir Balaban, who is in charge of urban nature at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, explained that the white-throated kingfisher is one of three species of kingfisher in Israel.
Video: Dov Greenblatt/ Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
"Two live in Israel year-round – the white-throated kingfisher, which originally comes from Asia, and the pied kingfisher, which is common along the coast, and originates from Africa. Another is migratory – the dwarf kingfisher, which is currently visiting us from Russia and spends the winter here in pools of water up and down the coast," Balaban explained.
White-throated kingfishers take care to bathe at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, to care for their feathers. Each bath includes five dives, between which the birds comb through their feathers and shake off the water. They also clean off their beaks on tree trunks.
The footage included here was filmed at the Nili and David Neiman Pool at SPNI's Jerusalem Bird Research Station.
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