Pelargopsis

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"Pelargopsis" was also invalidly given to Pelargopappus , a genus of fossil secretarybirds.

Pelargopsis
Stork-billed Kingfisher I IMG 7407.jpg
Stork-billed kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Halcyoninae
Genus: Pelargopsis
Gloger, 1841
Type species
Alcedo javana
Boddaert, 1783
Species

See text

Phylogeny
Pelargopsis

Brown-winged kingfisher

Great-billed kingfisher

Stork-billed kingfisher

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

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

The genus was introduced by the German zoologist Constantin Gloger in 1841. [2] The type species is a subspecies of the stork-billed kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis javana. [3] The word Pelargopsis is derived from the classical Greek pelargos meaning "stork" and opsis meaning "appearance". [4]

The genus contains three species: [5]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) (21449693520).jpg Pelargopsis capensis Stork-billed kingfisher Southeast Asia and Indian Subcontinent
Pekaka Bua-bua.JPG Pelargopsis melanorhyncha Great-billed kingfisher, black-billed kingfisher or Celebes stork-billed kingfisherSulawesi region of Indonesia
Brown winged KF.jpg Pelargopsis amauroptera Brown-winged kingfisher Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand

These three kingfishers were previously placed in the genus Halcyon . [6]

These are large kingfishers, 35 cm (14 in) in length. [6] They have very large red or black bills and bright red legs. The head and underparts of these species are white or buff, and the wings and back are darker, coloured variously in green and blue, brown or black depending on species. The sexes are similar. The flight of the Pelargopsis kingfishers is flapping, but direct.

Pelargopsis kingfishers inhabit a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers, estuaries or coasts. They perch quietly whilst seeking food, and are often inconspicuous despite their size. They are territorial and will chase away eagles and other large predators. These species hunts crabs, fish, frogs, and in the case of stork-billed at least, rodents and young birds.

Pelargopsis kingfishers excavate their nests in a river bank, decaying tree, or a tree termite nest and lay round white eggs.

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">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">Coraciidae</span> Family of birds

Coraciidae is a family of Old World birds, which are known as rollers because of the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights. Rollers resemble crows in size and build, and share the colourful appearance of kingfishers and bee-eaters, blues and pinkish or cinnamon browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one.

<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">Woodland kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The woodland kingfisher is a tree kingfisher that is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara.

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

The stork-billed kingfisher, is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range.

<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">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">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.

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

The Vanuatu kingfisher or chestnut-bellied kingfisher is a medium-sized kingfisher found only on the islands of Espiritu Santo, Malo and Malakula in Vanuatu.

<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">Grey-headed kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The grey-headed kingfisher is a species of kingfisher that has a wide distribution from the Cape Verde Islands off the north-west coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia and southern Arabia and south to South Africa.

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

The banded kingfisher is a tree kingfisher found in lowland tropical forests of southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus Lacedo. Male and female adults are very different in plumage. The male has a bright blue crown with black and blue banding on the back. The female has rufous and black banding on the head and upperparts.

<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">Chocolate-backed kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The chocolate-backed kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Halcyoninae which occurs in western Sub-Saharan Africa.

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

The hook-billed kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Halcyoninae that is resident in the lowland forested areas of New Guinea and some of the nearby islands. It is the only member of the genus Melidora.

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

The tree kingfishers, also called wood kingfishers or Halcyoninae, are the most numerous of the three subfamilies of birds in the kingfisher family, with around 70 species divided into 12 genera, including several species of kookaburras. The subfamily appears to have arisen in Indochina and Maritime Southeast Asia and then spread to many areas around the world. Tree kingfishers are widespread through Asia and Australasia, but also appear in Africa and the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, using a range of habitats from tropical rainforest to open woodlands.

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

The black-capped paradise kingfisher or black-headed paradise kingfisher, is a bird in the tree kingfisher subfamily, Halcyoninae. It is native to several islands in the Bismarck Archipelago to the east of New Guinea. Like all paradise kingfishers, this bird has colourful plumage with a red bill and long distinctive tail streamers.

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

The Sulawesi lilac kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the genus Cittura, found in the lowlands of the Indonesia island of Sulawesi and Lembeh.

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. Gloger, Constantin Wilhelm Lambert (1842). Gemeinnütziges Hand- und Hilfsbuch der Naturgeschichte (in German). Vol. 1. Breslau: A. Schulz. p. 338. The title page is dated 1842.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 186.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  295. 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. 1 2 Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 137–141.

Sources