Ispidina

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Ispidina
Flickr - Rainbirder - African pygmy-kingfisher (Ceyx pictus).jpg
African pygmy kingfisher (Ispidina picta)
African Dwarf Kingfisher imported from iNaturalist photo 63245181.jpg
African dwarf kingfisher (Ispidina lecontei)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Alcedininae
Genus: Ispidina
Kaup, 1848
Type species
Todus pictus [1]
Boddaert, 1783
Species

see text

Ispidina
African pygmy kingfisher range
  Extant (resident)
  Extant (breeding)
Ispidina
African dwarf kingfisher range

Ispidina is a genus of small insectivorous African river kingfishers.

The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848 with the African pygmy kingfisher (Ispidina picta) as the type species. [2] [3] The genus is the sister group to the genus Corythornis containing four small African kingfishers. [4]

Species

The two species in the genus are: [5]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
African Pygmy Kingfisher (Ispidina picta) (33161482716).jpg Ispidina picta African pygmy kingfisher Africa south of the Sahara
African Dwarf Kingfisher imported from iNaturalist photo 63245166.jpg Ispidina lecontei African dwarf kingfisher Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Uganda.

These similar small kingfishers can be distinguished by the blue crown of the African pigmy kingfisher. They have different habit preferences and have mostly non-overlapping ranges. The slightly smaller African dwarf kingfisher occurs in tropical rainforests while the African pygmy kingfisher occurs in dry grassy woodland. [6]

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 found in Europe and the Americas. They can be found in deep forests near calm ponds and small rivers. The family contains 118 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">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">Green kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The green kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in the subfamily Cerylinae of the family Alcedinidae. It is found from southern Texas in the United States south through Central America, in every mainland South American country except Chile and Trinidad and Tobago.

<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.

<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.

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

The Amazon kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to northern Argentina.

<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>Halcyon</i> (genus) Genus of birds

Halcyon is a genus of the tree kingfishers, near passerine birds in the subfamily Halcyoninae.

<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.

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

Lilac kingfishers are kingfishers in the genus Cittura, found in the lowlands of the Indonesia island of Sulawesi and the neighbouring Sangihe and Talaud Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Príncipe kingfisher</span> Subspecies of bird

The Príncipe kingfisher is a bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the island of Príncipe off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. The first formal description of the species was by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848 who gave it the binomial name Alcedo nais. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 showed that the Príncipe kingfisher is a subspecies of the malachite kingfisher.

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

The African dwarf kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the Alcedininae subfamily.

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

The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Luzon, Polillo Islands, Catanduanes, Basilan, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Corythornis</i> Genus of birds

Corythornis is a genus of small African river kingfishers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South philippine dwarf kingfisher</span> Subspecies of bird

The South philippine dwarf kingfisher is a subspecies of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Mindanao and Basilan. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

References

  1. "Alcedinidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  2. Kaup, Johann Jakob (1848). "Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae)". Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung (in German). 2: 71–72. OCLC   183221382.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 177.
  4. 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. 44 (2): 269–281. doi:10.1111/jbi.13139. S2CID   90416559.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2016). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 6.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  6. Fry, C. Hilary; Fry, Kathie; Harris, Alan (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 195–198. ISBN   978-0-7136-8028-7.