Alcedo

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Alcedo
Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily:
Alcedininae
Genus: Alcedo
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Alcedo ispida
, 1758
Species

See text

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

Alcedo is a

Alcedininae. The genus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae.[2] The type species is the common kingfisher (Alcedo ispida, now Alcedo atthis ispida).[3] Alcedo is the Latin for "kingfisher".[4]

Species

The genus contains the following eight species:[5]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Alcedo coerulescens Cerulean kingfisher Indonesia.
Alcedo euryzona Javan blue-banded kingfisher Java
Alcedo peninsulae
Malayan blue-banded kingfisher
Myanmar, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, southwestern Thailand and Borneo
Alcedo quadribrachys Shining-blue kingfisher Senegal and Gambia to west central Nigeria to Kenya, northwest Zambia and north Angola
Alcedo meninting Blue-eared kingfisher Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia
Alcedo atthis Common kingfisher across Eurasia and North Africa
Alcedo semitorquata Half-collared kingfisher southern and eastern Africa.
Alcedo hercules Blyth's kingfisher China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Bhutan in northeastern India, and a vagrant in Bangladesh and eastern Nepal

Unlike many kingfishers, all members of Alcedo are specialist fish-eaters. They all have some blue feathers on their upper-parts and most species have a black bill.[6] Except for the cerulean kingfisher they all have some rufous in their plumage. The female generally has more red on the lower mandible than the male.[7] The smallest species is the cerulean kingfisher which is around 13 cm (5.1 in) in length;[8] much the largest is Blyth's kingfisher with a length of 22 cm (8.7 in).[9]

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1 (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 115.
  3. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 170.
  4. .
  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. .
  7. ^ Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 210–224.
  8. ^ Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 210–211.
  9. ^ Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 223–224.

Sources

  • Fry, C. Hilary; Fry, Kathie; Harris, Alan (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. London: Christopher Helm. .

External links

  • Media related to Alcedo at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Alcedo at Wikispecies
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article: Alcedo. Articles is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.Privacy Policy