Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The forest kingfisher was first described by the naturalists Sir William Jardine and Prideaux John Selby in 1830. It was known for many years by its old scientific name of Halcyon macleayi before being transferred to the genus Todiramphus.
The Javan kingfisher is a medium-sized bird (25–27 cm at maturity) with a distinctive large red bill; dark brown irises, head, throat, and collar; a purple body; vivid turquoise primary coverts, secondaries, and tail; white wing patches on the bases of the primaries (visible in flight); and dark red feet.
The brown-hooded kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a brown head and blackish and turquoise wings. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, living in woodland, scrubland, forest edges, and also suburban areas.
The brown-breasted kingfisher (Halcyon gularis) is a tree kingfisher endemic to the Philippines, where it is widely distributed. This kingfisher is a resident over much of its range. [ 1 ]
[2] [3] The current genus Halcyon was introduced by the English naturalist and artist William Swainson in 1821. [4] The name of the genus is from the classical Greek alkuōn, a mythical bird, generally associated with the kingfisher. The specific epithet leucocephala is from the classical Greek leukos meaning "white" and -kephalos for "-headed ...
Some of the threats they face include excessive hunting for trophies or ceremonial use, conflict with livestock farmers, habitat fragmentation, depressed reproduction rates, and loss of prey base ...
The black-capped kingfisher (Halcyon pileata) is a tree kingfisher which is widely distributed in tropical Asia from India east to China, Korea and Southeast Asia. This most northerly of the tree kingfishers is resident over much of its range, but northern populations are migratory, wintering south of their range in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Borneo and Java.
The scientific name is derived from Greek mythology and the ancient belief that the birds nested in the open sea and called them halkyons (Latin halcyon) from hals (sea) and kyon (born). In Greek mythology the gods gave the halkyons the ability to calm the waters when nesting.