Megaceryle

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Megaceryle
Belted Kingfisher.jpg
A male belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Cerylinae
Genus: Megaceryle
Kaup, 1848
Type species
Alcedo guttatus
Vigors, 1831
Species

M. maxima
M. lugubris
M. alcyon
M. torquata

Phylogeny
Megaceryle
Cladogram based on Andersen et al. (2017) [1]

Megaceryle is a genus of very large kingfishers. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Contents

The genus was erected by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. [2] The type species is a subspecies of the crested kingfisher, Megaceryle lugubris guttulata. [3] Megaceryle is from the Ancient Greek megas, "great", and the existing genus Ceryle . [4]

Species

The genus comprises four species: [5]

Genus Megaceryle Kaup, 1848 – four species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Crested kingfisher

Megaceryle lugubris, crop.jpg
Male
Wiki-yamasemi-mesu, crop.jpg
Female

Megaceryle lugubris
(Temminck, 1834)

Four subspecies
  • M. l. continentalis (Hartert, 1900)
  • M. l. guttulata (Stejneger, 1892)
  • M. l. pallida (Momiyama, 1927)
  • M. l. lugubris (Temminck, 1834)
northern India, Bangladesh, northern Indochina, Southeast Asia, and Japan
Greater Pied Kingfisher.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Giant kingfisher

Megaceryle maxima -East Africa -male-8a.jpg
Male
Giant Kingfisher, Megaceryle maxima at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, South Africa (33936852084).jpg
Female

Megaceryle maxima
(Pallas, 1769)

Two subspecies
  • M. m. maxima (Pallas, 1769)
  • M. m. gigantea (Swainson, 1837)
Liberia to northern Angola and western Tanzania, island of Bioko, Senegal, and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa
Giant Kingfisher.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Ringed kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata) male (31705388506).jpg
Male
Megaceryle torquata Martin Pescador Grande Ringed Kingfisher (female) (32405025924).jpg
Female

Megaceryle torquata
(Linnaeus, 1766)

Three subspecies
  • M. t. stictipennis (Lawrence, 1885)
  • M. t. torquata (Linnaeus, 1766)
  • M. t. stellata (Meyen, 1834)
Southeastern most Texas in the United States through Central America to Tierra del Fuego in South America
Ringed Kingfisher distribution map.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Belted kingfisher

BeltedKingfisherJG Male.jpg
Male
Megaceryle alcyon femelle.jpg
Female

Megaceryle alcyon
(Linnaeus, 1758)
North America, within Canada, Alaska, and the United States
Megaceryle alcyon map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 



All are specialist fish-eaters with prominent stiff crests on their heads. They have dark grey or bluish-grey upperparts, largely unmarked in the two American species, but heavily spotted with white in the Asian crested kingfisher and the African giant kingfisher. The underparts may be white or rufous, and all forms have a contrasting breast band except male ringed kingfisher. The underpart pattern is always different for the two sexes of each species.

These birds nest in horizontal tunnels made in a river bank or sand bank. Both parents excavate the tunnel, incubate the eggs, and feed the young.

Megaceryle kingfishers are often seen perched prominently on trees, posts, or other suitable watch-points close to water before plunging in headfirst after their prey, usually fish, crustaceans, or frogs, but sometimes aquatic insects and other suitably sized animals.

Origins and taxonomy

The previous view that the Megaceryle kingfishers arose in the New World from a specialist fish-eating alcedinid ancestor that crossed the Bering Strait and gave rise to this genus and the American green kingfishers Chloroceryle, with a large crested species later, in the Pliocene, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to give rise to the giant and crested kingfishers [6] is probably wrong. Rather, it now seems that the genus probably originates in the Old World, possibly Africa, and the ancestor of the belted and ringed kingfishers made the ocean crossing [7]

The Megaceryle kingfishers were formerly placed in Ceryle with the pied kingfisher, but the latter is genetically closer to the American green kingfishers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingfisher</span> Family of birds

Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, but also can be seen in Europe. They can be found in deep forests near calm ponds and small rivers. The family contains 116 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. All kingfishers have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with only small differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belted kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The belted kingfisher is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, native to North America. All kingfishers are placed in one family, Alcedinidae, and recent research suggests that this should be divided into three subfamilies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River kingfisher</span> Subfamily of birds

The river kingfishers or pygmy kingfishers, subfamily Alcedininae, are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers. The river kingfishers are widespread through Africa and east and south Asia as far as Australia, with one species, the common kingfisher also appearing in Europe and northern Asia. This group includes many kingfishers that actually dive for fish. The origin of the subfamily is thought to have been in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water kingfisher</span> Subfamily of birds

The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six American species are in this subfamily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The pied kingfisher is a species of water kingfisher widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, it has five recognised subspecies. Its black and white plumage and crest, as well as its habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish, make it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast, while females have a single broken breast band. They are usually found in pairs or small family groups. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malachite kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The malachite kingfisher is a river kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is largely resident except for seasonal climate-related movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Half-collared kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The half-collared kingfisher is a kingfisher in the subfamily Alcedininae that is found in southern and eastern Africa. It feeds almost exclusively on fish and frequents streams, rivers and larger bodies of water with dense shoreline vegetation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American green kingfisher</span> Genus of birds

The American green kingfishers are the kingfisher genus Chloroceryle, which are native to tropical Central and South America, with one species extending north to south Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The giant kingfisher is the largest kingfisher in Africa, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, other than the arid southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American pygmy kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The American pygmy kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America into every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay. It also occurs on Trinidad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African pygmy kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The African pygmy kingfisher is a small insectivorous kingfisher found in the Afrotropics, mostly in woodland habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crested kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The crested kingfisher is a very large kingfisher that is native to parts of southern Asia, stretching eastwards from the Indian Subcontinent towards Japan. It forms a species complex with the other three Megaceryle species.

<i>Pelargopsis</i> Genus of birds

Pelargopsis is a genus of tree kingfishers that are resident in tropical south Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Indonesia.

<i>Todiramphus</i> Genus of birds

Todiramphus is a genus of kingfishers in the subfamily Halcyoninae that are endemic to the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and many islands in the South Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringed kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The ringed kingfisher is a large, conspicuous, and noisy kingfisher bird commonly found along the lower Rio Grande Valley in southeasternmost Texas in the United States through Central America to Tierra del Fuego in South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green-and-rufous kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The green-and-rufous kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the American tropics from Nicaragua to Panama and in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

<i>Alcedo</i> Genus of birds

Alcedo is a genus of birds in the kingfisher subfamily Alcedininae. The genus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is the common kingfisher. Alcedo is the Latin for "kingfisher".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-backed dwarf kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The black-backed dwarf kingfisher, also known as the three-toed kingfisher, is a pocket-sized bird in the family Alcedinidae. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the rufous-backed dwarf kingfisher and together the species complex was known by the English name "oriental dwarf kingfisher".

<i>Ispidina</i> Genus of birds

Ispidina is a genus of small insectivorous African river kingfishers.

<i>Corythornis</i> Genus of birds

Corythornis is a genus of small African river kingfishers.

References

  1. Andersen, M.J.; McCullough, J.M.; Mauck III, W.M.; Smith, B.T.; Moyle, R.G. (2017). "A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (2): 1–13. doi:10.1111/jbi.13139.
  2. Kaup, Johann Jakob (1848). "Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae)". Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung (in German). 2: 68. OCLC   183221382.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 165.
  4. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  245. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 7.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. C. H. Fry & Kathie Fry; illustrated by Alan Harris (2000). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Princeton University Press. ISBN   0-691-04879-7.
  7. Moyle, Robert G. (2006). "A molecular phylogeny of kingfishers (Alcedinidae) with insights into early biogeographic history". Auk . 123 (2): 487–499. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[487:AMPOKA]2.0.CO;2. hdl: 1808/16596 .