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

See text

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

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.[2] The type species is the common kingfisher (Alcedo ispida, now Alcedo atthis ispida).[3] Alcedo is the Latin for "kingfisher".[4]

Species

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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 Malaysian 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

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Sources

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  • Fry, C. Hilary; Fry, Kathie; Harris, Alan (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-8028-7.
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