Cerulean kingfisher
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Cerulean Kingfisher 0A2A1617.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Alcedo
| species = coerulescens
| authority = Vieillot, 1818
}}
The cerulean kingfisher (Alcedo coerulescens) is a kingfisher in the subfamily Alcedininae which is native to parts of Indonesia. With an overall metallic blue impression, it is very similar to the common kingfisher, but it is white underneath instead of orange. Males average bluer than females, which have a greenish cast.
It is sometimes called the small blue kingfisher but in Indonesia and parts of Asia that name refers to Alcedo atthis (common kingfisher).{{cite book|last=Ali|first=S. |author-link=Salim Ali (ornithologist) |author2=Ripley, S.D. |author2-link=Sidney Dillon Ripley |title=Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan |edition=Second |volume=4 |orig-date=1986 |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press|place=New Delhi |chapter=Bird Number 722-724 |pages=72–78}}
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the cerulean kingfisher was by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1818. He coined the binomial name Alcedo coerulescens.{{ cite book | last=Vieillot | first=Louis Pierre | author-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot | year=1818 | title=Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc. | volume=19 | place=Paris | publisher=Deterville |page=401 | doi=10.5962/bhl.title.20211 | language=French | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/18042135 }}{{ 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=175 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480186}} The specific epithet coerulescens is from the Latin caerulescens meaning "bluish".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 |page= 113}} The species is monotypic.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=F. | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=D. | year=2017 | title=Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers | work=World Bird List Version 7.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rollers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |access-date=28 May 2017}}
Description
The cerulean kingfisher is a small kingfisher with a length of {{cvt|13|cm}}. The upperparts are a range of shades of blue with white lores and a prominent white patch on each side of the neck. The underparts are white with an azure-blue breast-band. The bill is blackish and the legs are dark brown. The female has duller and slightly greenish plumage and a narrower breast band.{{cite book |last1=Fry | first1=C. H. |last2=Fry | first2=K. | last3=Harris | first3=A. |year=1992 | title=Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers| publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London |isbn=978-0-7136-8028-7 | pages=210–211}}
Distribution and habitat
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q31646}}
Category:Endemic birds of Indonesia