Green-and-rufous kingfisher

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Green-and-rufous kingfisher
Green-and-rufous kingfisher (Chloroceryle inda).JPG
On the Cristalino River, Southern Amazon, Brazil
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Cerylinae
Genus: Chloroceryle
Species:
C. inda
Binomial name
Chloroceryle inda
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Chloroceryle inda map.svg
Synonyms

Alcedo indaLinnaeus, 1766

The green-and-rufous kingfisher (Chloroceryle inda) is a resident breeding bird in the lowlands of the American tropics from southeastern Nicaragua south to southern Brazil.

Contents

Taxonomy

The first formal description of the green-and-rufous kingfisher was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae . He coined the binomial name Alcedo inda. [2] Linnaeus based his description on George Edwards's "Spotted King's-Fisher" but mistakenly gave the type locality as India occidentali instead of Guiana. [2] [3] [4] Linnaeus's specific name inda is from the Latin Indus for India. [5] The current genus Chloroceryle was erected by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. [6]

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2006 found that the green-and-rufous kingfisher was a sister species to the smaller green kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana). [7]

Two subspecies are recognised: [8]

Description

At Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica Green-and-Rufous Kingfisher (female) - Flickr - Becky Matsubara.jpg
At Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

The green-and-rufous kingfisher is 24 cm (9.4 in) in length. Males weigh 46–60 g (1.6–2.1 oz) and females 53–62 g (1.9–2.2 oz). It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a short tail and long bill. The adult male has glossy green upperparts, with white spotting on the wings, and a rufous nape and underparts. The female has a narrow breast band of green-tipped white feathers. Young birds resemble the adult female, but have more spotting on the wings and back. The eyes are dark brown; the legs and feet are dark grey. [9]

The call a chip-chip-chip and some twittering. [10]

The green-and-rufous kingfisher resembles the American pygmy kingfisher, which shares its range, but it is much larger than its relative, and four times as heavy. It lacks the white lower belly shown by the smaller species, and has more white spots on the wings. [11]

The smaller green kingfisher and much larger Amazon kingfisher both have a white belly and collar. [12]

Distribution

Besides the Amazon Basin and the Guianas, also Colombia with most of Venezuela, (the Orinoco River basin), a disjunct range of the green-and-rufous kingfisher occurs on the southeast Brazil coast. A 200 km (120 mi) wide coastal range extends from central Bahia in the north to Santa Catarina, about 2,200 km (1,400 mi); a localized coastal population occurs north of Bahia in Pernambuco.

The population in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama is also disjunct being west of the Andes cordillera; it is contiguous with a coastal population from central coastal Colombia south to central coastal Ecuador.

Behaviour

This kingfisher breeds by rivers and streams in dense lowland forests. The unlined nest is in a horizontal tunnel made in a river bank, and the female lays three to five white eggs. [13]

Green-and-rufous kingfishers are often seen perched on a branch above water before plunging in head first after their fish or crab prey.

Related Research Articles

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Common kingfisher Species of bird

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Pied kingfisher 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 gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family groups. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.

Malachite kingfisher Species of bird

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Woodland kingfisher Species of bird

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Stork-billed kingfisher Species of bird

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Olive bee-eater Species of bird

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Turquoise tanager Species of bird

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Oriental dollarbird Species of bird

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Lilac-breasted roller Species of bird

The lilac-breasted roller is an African bird of the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, and is a vagrant to the southern Arabian Peninsula. It prefers open woodland and savanna, and it is for the most part absent from treeless places. Usually found alone or in pairs, it perches conspicuously at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, lizards, scorpions, snails, small birds and rodents moving about on the ground. Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2–4 eggs are laid, and incubated by both parents, who are extremely aggressive in defence of their nest, taking on raptors and other birds. During the breeding season the male will rise to a fair height, descending in swoops and dives, while uttering harsh, discordant cries. The sexes are different in coloration, and juveniles lack the long tail streamers of adults. This species is unofficially considered the national bird of Kenya. Alternative names for the lilac-breasted roller include the fork-tailed roller, lilac-throated roller and Mosilikatze's roller.

American green kingfisher 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.

<i>Megaceryle</i> Genus of birds

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

Amazon kingfisher Species of bird

The Amazon kingfisher is a resident breeding kingfisher in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to northern Argentina.

American pygmy kingfisher Species of bird

The American pygmy kingfisher is a resident breeding kingfisher which occurs in the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to western Ecuador, and then around the northern Andes cordillera in the east to central Bolivia and central Brazil. The species occupies the entire Amazon basin and the Tocantins River drainage adjacent in Pará state Brazil. It also occurs on Trinidad.

African pygmy kingfisher Species of bird

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

Crested kingfisher 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>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".

Purple-winged roller Species of bird

The purple-winged roller is a species of bird in the family Coraciidae. It is endemic to the Sulawesi subregion in Indonesia and can be found on the islands of Sulawesi, Bangka, Lembeh, Manterawu, Muna and Butung.

Brown-headed paradise kingfisher Species of bird

The brown-headed paradise kingfisher, also known as the russet paradise kingfisher, is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the lowland forest in the Bird's Tail Peninsula. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Like all paradise kingfishers this bird has colourful plumage with a red bill and distinctive long tail streamers. No subspecies are distinguished.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2020). "Chloroceryle inda". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22683655A163589817. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22683655A163589817.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 179.
  3. Edwards, George (1758–1764). Gleanings of natural history, exhibiting figures of quadrupeds, birds, insects, plants &c... (in English and French). Vol. Part 3. London: Printed for the author, at the College of Physicians. pp. 262–264, Plate 335.
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 169.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  204. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. 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.
  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 .
  8. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 7.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  9. Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 225–226.
  10. Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, p. 225.
  11. Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 76, 225.
  12. Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, p. 76.
  13. Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 6, 17–18, 226.

Sources