Amazon kingfisher
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Amazon Kingfisher.jpg
| image_caption = A male in Corrientes Province, Argentina
| image2 = Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) female ... (48368158081), crop.jpg
| image2_caption = A female in Mato Grosso, Brazil
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Chloroceryle
| species = amazona
| authority = (Latham, 1790)
| range_map = Chloroceryle amazona map.svg
| range_map_caption = {{legend0|green| resident range}}
}}
The Amazon kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rollers/ |title=Rollers, ground rollers, kingfishers |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 12.2 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=August 2022 |access-date=13 December 2022 }}HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved 13 December 2022
Taxonomy and systematics
The first formal description of the Amazon kingfisher was by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1790 under the binomial name Alcedo amazona.{{cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1945 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=5 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=168 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480179 }}{{cite book| last= Latham| first= John | year=1790 | title= Index Ornithologicus, Sive Systema Ornithologiae: Complectens Avium Divisionem in Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Ipsarumque Varietates | volume=1 | language=Latin | place=London | publisher = Leigh & Sotheby | page=257 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53510628 }} The current genus Chloroceryle was erected by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848.{{cite journal | last=Kaup | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Kaup | year=1848 | title=Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae) | journal=Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung | volume=2 | page=68 | oclc=183221382 | language=German }} The species is monotypic.
Description
File:Female amazon kingfisher, Tarcoles river, Costa Rica, December 2014, crop.jpg in Costa Rica]]
The Amazon kingfisher is about {{convert|30|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. Males weigh {{convert|98|to|121|g|oz|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} and females {{convert|125|to|140|g|oz|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are dark gray. Adult males have dark bronzy green upperparts divided by a white collar. They have a white chin and throat, a rich rufous breast with dark green sides, and a white belly with dark green streaks on the side. Adult females lack the rufous breast but the green of the sides extends across the breast almost to its middle. Juvenile males have a buffy rufous breast and both sexes have buff spots on the upperwing coverts and a large yellow patch on their bill.Woodall, P. F. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.amakin1.01 retrieved 13 December 2022
Distribution and habitat
The Amazon kingfisher is found from the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas south through Central America into Colombia and Venezuela and separately east of the Andes in every South American country except Chile, reaching as far south as central Argentina. It has been recorded as a vagrant to Aruba, Trinidad, and Texas.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 24 July 2022R. Terry Chesser, Richard C. Banks, F. Keith Barker, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Fifty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk 2011, vol. 128(3):600-613 retrieved 9 August 2022 It inhabits large rivers, both slow- and fast-flowing, and the wooded shores of lakes and freshwater lagoons. It also occasionally occurs in brackish lagoons, mangroves, and tidal estuaries. It favors open landscapes rather than dense forest. In elevation it is mostly found below {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}} but occurs as high as {{convert|2500|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Venezuela.
Behavior
=Movement=
=Feeding=
The Amazon kingfisher usually hunts from a perch from which it dives into water for its prey. Occasionally it hovers before diving. Its diet is mostly fish, especially those of family Characidae, and crustaceans.
=Breeding=
The Amazon kingfisher's breeding season varies geographically. It is generally in the first half of the year in Central America but has not been detailed elsewhere. Both members of a pair excavate a slightly inclined burrow in a river bank or similar feature; it is typically up to {{convert|1.6|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and has a nest chamber at the end. The clutch size is three or four eggs. Most incubation at night is by the female and during the day by the male. The incubation period is about 22 days and fledging occurs 29 to 30 days after hatch.
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Chloroceryle-amazona |species=Amazon kingfisher}}
=Vocalization=
The Amazon kingfisher makes a "[l]oud, harsh, repeated 'tek' or 'klek'" and a "staccato 'chrit'" that may be extended into a rattle. It also makes "frog-like" calls. Another vocalization is "an accelerating series of clear notes...'see see see...su su su su'" that is thought to be a greeting or alarm call.
Status
The IUCN has assessed the Amazon kingfisher as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range. Its estimated population of at least a half million mature individuals is, however, believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.
Amazon kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) male in flight Cayo 2.jpg|male
Amazon kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) male in flight Cayo.jpg|male
Amazon kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) female in flight Cayo.jpg|female
Amazon kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) female in flight Cayo 2.jpg|female
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Chloroceryle amazona}}
{{Wikispecies|Chloroceryle amazona}}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000919045408/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/8909000.htm Stamps]}} (for Argentina, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela) with RangeMap
- [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=amazon+kingfisher&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Amazon kingfisher photo gallery] VIREO
{{Cerylinae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q456421}}
Category:Birds of Central America
Category:Birds of South America
Category:Birds of the Amazon rainforest
Category:Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
Category:Birds of the Guiana Shield