Kingfisher sightings down in Britain

LONDON, March 19 (UPI) -- Britain's kingfisher population appears to have been hit hard by the coldest winter since the early 1960s, bird watchers said.

Kingfisher sightings have dropped by a third this year, said Graham Madge, a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

"They are vulnerable because they have small bodies and find it harder to keep warm," Madge told The Times of London Online in a story published Friday.

The number of kingfisher breeding pairs in Britain is estimated at between 3,300 and 5,300, though the actual population may be much lower, Madge said.

Kingfishers are a sign of a healthy ecosystem because they rely on clean water that contains plenty of small fish, said Mark Robinson, a spokesman for British Waterways, which raises money to improve nesting habitat along 2,200 miles of waterways.

"It is therefore particularly important for us to monitor what species will need our support over the coming year," Robinson said.