Kingfishers of the World
Surfbirds photofile
 |
| One of the rarest kingfishers in the world, there are now only about 50 individuals of the critically endangered Tuamotu Kingfisher.
Photo from the Surfbirds Galleries © Pete Morris/Birdquest, French Polynesia, Niau September 2006
|
|
Brian J Small
Thanks to the many photographers that have uploaded images onto the various surfbirds galleries, once again, surfbirds.com is able to bring together 100s of images from a single bird family. Following on from hummingbirds, this time we deal with the kingfishers.
Depending on the taxonomic list you chose, there are c.90 species of kingfishers in the world; Howard and Moore (H&M) list 91 species - Fry et al list 87 – and we are able to show photographs of 73 (77%) of the total species. Recent changes have affected a number of the scientific names, for example many kingfishers previously treated as Halcyon have been put into new genera: the ‘stork-billed kingfishers’ are now Pelargopsis; the ‘blue-and-white’ and ‘yellow-billed’ kingfishers of southeast Asia and Australasia are now treated as Todirhamphus. One thing that has not changed is whether visiting your local river or traveling throughout the world, it has hard not to get a thrill at the sight of a kingfisher.
 Fact file
-
- 95 species in 17 genera (using H&M); the greatest area of diversity is in southeast Asia and northern Australia, where many island forms have evolved.
- Kingfishers are thought to have originated in this region of diversity, a region of tropical forests, as many as 40-50 million years ago. Various lineages have evolved to make use of available food in savanna, tropical woodland, shallow waters and freshwater habitats.
- African kingfishers probably originated both the east and west – Fry et al state ‘no fewer than eight separate invasions from the Orient and two from America’.
- Most kingfishers are monogamous, breeding in a defended territory for most of their lives; some such as the kookaburras have a more social approach, with cooperative helpers-at-the-nest coming from previous years’ broods – much like some bee-eaters.
- Many kingfishers species nest in trees, using rotten trees often associated with termite mounds – the termites putting a protective crust on the interior walls.
- Relatively few kingfisher species habitually catch fish, most prefering slow-moving invertebrates and vertebrates, such as lizards and beetles. The Shovel-billed Kookaburra feeds by ‘ploughing’ an area of leaf-litter with its huge bill, consuming any prey it disturbs – most frequently earthworms; Ruddy Kingfishers take a large variety of prey items, including large land snails that they smash at regularly used ‘anvil stones’ on the forest floor; African Halcyon species catch termites in flight as well as mice, small birds, but most often arthropods, such as scorpions, centipedes and millipedes; Australian kookaburras often tackle snakes.
- Beach Kingfishers of Micronesia feed most commonly on small crabs; the Chestnut-bellied Kingfisher of Vanuatu feeds exclusively on insects – small moths and beetles taken in flight.
- The largest kingfisher is the Laughing Kookaburra, weighing in at 500g and with a wing length of c.200mm; the Giant Kingfisher from Africa can weigh up to 420g and has a wing length of up to 200mm; the Ringed Kingfisher from southern USA and S America weighs up to 330g and measures 200mm in the wing.
- Conversely, the smallest kingfisher is the African Dwarf Kingfisher, which weighs up to 12g and has a wing length of c.50mm; the other dwarf-kingfishers and pygmy-kingfishers are not much larger.
- The Collared (Mangrove) Kingfisher that breeds from the Red Sea coast to Samoa is incredibly diverse, with 50 subspecies listed in H&M, most on isolated islands of the western Pacific rim.
Birdlife International lists only one species of kingfisher as Critically Endangered, the Tuamotu Kingfisher Todiramphus gambieri; one species is listed as Endangered, Marquesan Kingfisher Todiramphus godeffroyi; ten species are listed as Vulnerable. What links all of these species is that their range is very isolated, limited to one small island.
Once again a huge thanks goes to all of the photographers that upload their superb imags onto the various galleries on surfbirds.com.
Photo Database
Green-backed Kingfisher Actenoides monachus
Scaly Kingfisher Actenoides princeps
Moustached Kingfisher Actenoides bougainvillei
Spotted (Wood-) Kingfisher Actenoides lindsayi
Blue-capped Kingfisher Actenoides hombroni or Blue-capped Wood-Kingfisher
Rufous-collared Kingfisher Actenoides concretus
Hook-billed Kingfisher Melidora macrorrhina
Banded Kingfisher Lacedo pulchella
Common Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera galatea
Kafiau [Kofiau] Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera ellioti
Biak Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera riedelii
Numfor Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera carolinae
Little Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera hydrocharis
Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera sylvia or Black-headed Paradise Kingfisher (subspecies nigriceps of Buff-breasted)
Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera nympha
Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera danae
Lilac-cheeked Kingfisher Cittura cyanotis
Shovel-billed Kookaburra Clytoceyx rex
Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii
Spangled Kookaburra Dacelo tyro - external link
Rufous-bellied Kookaburra Dacelo gaudichaud
White-rumped Kingfisher Caridonax fulgidus
Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis
Black-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis melanorhyncha
Brown-winged Kingfisher Pelargopsis amauroptera
Ruddy Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda
White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
Javan Kingfisher Halcyon cyanoventris - external link
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher Halcyon badia
Black-capped Kingfisher Halcyon pileata - external link
Grey-headed Kingfisher Halcyon leucocephala
Brown-hooded Kingfisher Halcyon albiventris
Striped Kingfisher Halcyon chelicuti
Blue-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon malimbica
Woodland Kingfisher Halcyon senegalensis
Mangrove Kingfisher Halcyon senegaloides
Blue-black Kingfisher Todirhamphus nigrocyaneu
Rufous-lored Kingfisher Todirhamphus winchelli
Blue-and-white Kingfisher Todirhamphus diops
Lazuli Kingfisher Todirhamphus lazuli
Forest Kingfisher Todirhamphus macleayii - external link
New Britain Kingfisher Todirhamphus albonotatus
Ultramarine Kingfisher Todirhamphus leucopygius
Chestnut-bellied Kingfisher Todirhamphus farquhari
Sombre Kingfisher Todirhamphus funebris
Collared Kingfisher Todirhamphus chloris
Talaud Kingfisher Todirhamphus enigma
Micronesian Kingfisher Todirhamphus cinnamominus - external link
Beach Kingfisher Todirhamphus saurophagus
Sacred Kingfisher Todirhamphus sanctus
Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher Todirhamphus australasia
Chattering Kingfisher Todirhamphus tutus
Tahitian Kingfisher Todirhamphus veneratus
Tuamotu Kingfisher Todirhamphus gambieri
Marquesan Kingfisher Todirhamphus godeffroyi - external link (scroll down)
Red-backed Kingfisher Todirhamphus pyrrhopygius - external link
Yellow-billed Kingfisher Syma torotoro
Mountain (Yellow-billed) Kingfisher Syma megarhyncha
African Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx lecontei
African Pygmy Kingfisher Ceyx pictus
Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx erithaca
Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx melanurus
Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx fallax
Madagascan Pygmy Kingfisher Ceyx madagascariensis - formerly lumped with African Pygmy Kingfisher - external link
Variable Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx lepidus
White-bellied Kingfisher Alcedo leucogaster or Príncipe Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher Alcedo cristata
[Sao Tome Kingfisher – external link ]
Madagascar Kingfisher Alcedo vintsioides – external link
Indigo-banded Kingfisher Alcedo cyanopectus - external link
Silvery Kingfisher Alcedo argentata
Cerulean Kingfisher Alcedo coerulescens - external link
Blue-banded Kingfisher Alcedo euryzona - external link
Shining-blue Kingfisher Alcedo quadribrachys
Azure Kingfisher Alcedo azurea
Bismarck Kingfisher Alcedo websteri
Little Kingfisher Alcedo pusilla
Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedo meninting
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
Half-collared Kingfisher Alcedo semitorquata
Blyth's Kingfisher Alcedo hercules external link
American Pygmy Kingfisher Chloroceryle aenea
Green-and-rufous Kingfisher Chloroceryle inda
Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana
Amazon Kingfisher Chloroceryle amazona
Crested Kingfisher Megaceryle lugubris
Giant Kingfisher Megaceryle maxima
Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquata
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis
Other sites for good kingfisher pictures:-
Try also http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/Sampler2a-Kingfishers.htm
References
Fry, C.H., Fry, K., and Harris, A. 1992. Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Christopher Helm, London.
Dickinson, E. (ed), 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Christopher Helm, London.
Back to Top Of Article
|
