ThirstyFish

If you have never seen a Kingfisher hunt, then put it on your bucket list; it is definitely a sight to see. Although the etymology of Kingfisher is not known with certainty, watching how precisely and effortlessly it hunts definitely gives one a sense that it is the "King" of birds that fish.

Biomimicry is taking inspiration from nature to solve human problems. Although engineers are familiar with the term, most of us are not. For example, there is a significant amount of research performed on developing a synthetic version of the spider web, one of the strongest and most flexible materials in nature. Similarly, the Kingfisher's ability to enter the water with very little splash inspired the design of a Japanese Bullet Train which before this design made disturbing sonic booms. Biomimicry has been employed in the development of many things that we use daily and continues to be an inspiration for the products of the future.

If you put your mouse pointer over the Blue Information Icon on the right, you can see that my photo equipment was at its maximum limits when taking this shot of the Belted Kingfisher, under poor light and at a long distance. Now that I think about it, my camera equipment is full of biomimicry. My camera imitates life!