The belted kingfisher is a small bird, a little bigger than a robin and sporting colors similar to a blue jay.

There are other kinds of kingfishers across the world, but the belted kingfisher is the only one native to Missouri. This bird can be found year-round in Southeast Missouri.

The belted kingfisher's preferred nesting site is a hole just big enough to enter. It digs a vertical nest hole in a dirt bank, where it raises its young. Usually this hole is near a river or lake.

The diet of the belted kingfisher consists mainly of small fish, which the bird dives into water to catch.

A belted kingfisher may be seen sitting on a tree branch or other conspicuous perch, making a rattletrap sort of sound.

I spotted this female --brown belt on chest -- sitting in a sycamore tree. The brown balls hanging from the limbs are seed pods of the sycamore.