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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Megaceryle is a genus of very large kingfishers. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
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.
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.
The African pygmy kingfisher is a small insectivorous kingfisher found in the Afrotropics, mostly in woodland habitats.
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.
Halcyon is a genus of the tree kingfishers, near passerine birds in the subfamily Halcyoninae.
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.
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.
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.
The African dwarf kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the Alcedininae subfamily.
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. But it is threatened by habitat loss.
Ceyx is an Old World genus of river kingfishers. These kingfishers are found from South East Asia to the Solomon Islands.
Corythornis is a genus of small African river kingfishers.
