Chattering kingfisher
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Todiramphus tutus by John Gerrard Keulemans.jpg
| image_caption = illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Todiramphus
| species = tutus
| authority = (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
| synonyms =
}}
The chattering kingfisher (Todiramphus tutus) is a species of bird in the kingfisher family Alcedinidae.
The species is found in the Cook Islands and the Society Islands in French Polynesia.
Taxonomy
The chattering kingfisher was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with other kingfishers in the genus Alcedo and coined the binomial name Alcedo tuta.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1788 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=453 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2897053 }} Gmelin based his description on the "respected kingfisher" that had been described in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham gave the locality as Otaheite (Tahiti) but did not specify how he had access to a specimen. Latham noted that the Polynesians revered and protected kingfishers.{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1781 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=1, Part 2 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | page=624, No. 14 | url=http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33730507 }} The specimen (or specimens) would have been collected during either James Cook's second or third voyages to the Pacific Ocean.{{Cite journal | last1=Jansen | first1=Justin | last2=van der Vliet | first2=Roland | date=2015 | title=The chequered history of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus on Tahiti 1: type specimens | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=135 | pages=108–120 | url=https://boc-online.org/bulletins/downloads/BBOC1352-Vliet.pdf }} The society kingfisher (T. veneratus) is present on Tahiti but it is doubtful whether the chattering kingfisher ever occurred on the island in historical times.{{Cite journal | last1=van der Vliet | first1=Roland | last2=Jansen | first2=Justin | date=2015 | title=The chequered history of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus on Tahiti 2: review of status | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=135 | pages=121–130 | url=https://boc-online.org/bulletins/downloads/BBOC1352-Vliet.pdf }}{{Cite journal | last1=Lee | first1=Michael | last2=Holyoak | first2=David T. | date=2017 | title='The chequered history of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus on Tahiti': a response | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=137 | issue=3 | pages=211–217 | doi=10.25226/bboc.v137i3.2017.a5 | doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal | last1=van der Vliet | first1=Roland E. | last2=Jansen | first2=Justin J. F. J. | date=2017 | title=Reply to Lee & Holyoak: how definite are 20th-century reports of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus from Tahiti? | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=137 | issue=3 | pages=218–225 | doi=10.25226/bboc.v137i3.2017.a6 | doi-access=free }} The chattering kingfisher is now one of 30 species placed in the genus Todiramphus that was introduced in 1827 by René Lesson.{{ cite journal | last=Lesson | first=René | author-link=René Lesson | year=1827 | title=Description d'un nouveau genre d'oiseau. Todirhamphe, Todiramphus | journal=Bulletin des sciences naturelles et de géologie | volume=12 | language=fr | pages=268–271 [269] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43065665 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | date=August 2022 | title=Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers | work=World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rollers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=4 January 2023 }} The word Todiramphus combines the genus name Todus with the Ancient Greek rhamphos meaning "bill". The specific epithet tutus is Latin meaning "revered".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n387/mode/1up 387], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n393/mode/1up 393]}}
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 found that the chattering kingfisher was closely related to two other species that are endemic to islands in eastern Polynesia: the Niau kingfisher (T. gertrudae) and the society kingfisher (T. veneratus).{{ cite journal | last1=Andersen | first1=M.J. | last2=Shult | first2=H.T. | last3=Cibois | first3=A. | last4=Thibault | first4=J.C. | last5=Filardi | first5=C.E. | last6=Moyle | first6=R.G. | year=2015 | title=Rapid diversification and secondary sympatry in Australo-Pacific kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae: Todiramphus) | journal=Royal Society Open Science | volume=2 | issue=140375 | page=140375 | doi=10.1098/rsos.140375 | pmid=26064600 | pmc=4448819 | bibcode=2015RSOS....240375A | doi-access=free }}
Three subspecies are recognised:
- T. t. tutus (Gmelin, JF, 1788) – central Society Islands (east Polynesia)
- T. t. atiu (Holyoak, 1974) – Atiu (east Cook Islands)
- T. t. mauke (Holyoak, 1974) – Mauke (east Cook Islands)
Description
It resembles the collared kingfisher but is smaller and lacks any rust colour in the plumage. The breast and throat is white, and the back, wings and crown are blue-green (although the crown of the Atiu subspecies is almost entirely white). It can be told from the Tahiti kingfisher by the complete white collar.
Habitat
Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist montane forest. The species prefers primary forest in montane valleys, but will move into secondary growth and old plantations. The species has an uneven distribution. Nevertheless, it is not considered threatened with extinction by the IUCN.
Behaviour
The chattering kingfisher lives singly or in pairs and feeds on insects and lizards taken on the wing or from the ground. The species nests in tree cavities.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Halcyoninae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1264475}}
Category:Birds of the Cook Islands
Category:Birds of the Society Islands
Category:Least concern biota of Oceania
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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