Todiramphus

Adult (left) and juvenile sacred kingfishers Todiramphus sanctus, copyright JJ Harrison.

Belongs within: Halcyonidae.

Todiramphus is a genus of medium-sized kingfishers with flattened bills found in southern Asia and Australasia. Species typically have blue or blue-green upperparts, pale underparts, and often a white collar and supercilium.

Todiramphus Lesson 1827 [=Todirhamphus Salvadori 1880; incl. Sauropatis Cabanis & Heine 1860] CC10
    |--T. winchelli JT12
    `--+--T. leucopygius JT12
       `--+--+--T. chloris (Boddaert 1783) JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
          |  |    |--T. c. chloris WS48
          |  |    |--‘Halcyon’ c. chloroptera H03
          |  |    |--‘Halcyon’ c. novaehiberniae D77
          |  |    |--‘Halcyon’ c. nusae D77
          |  |    `--‘Halcyon’ c. sordida Gould 1842 [=H. sordidus] WS48
          |  `--T. sanctus (Vigors & Horsfield 1827) JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
          |       |--T. s. sanctus CC10
          |       |--T. s. canacorum Brasil 1916 CC10
          |       |--T. s. macmillani Mayr 1940 CC10
          |       |--T. s. norfolkiensis (Tristram 1885) (see below for synonymy) CC10
          |       `--T. s. vagans (Lesson 1828) (see below for synonymy) CC10
          `--+--T. macleayii (Jardine & Selby 1830) JT12, CC10 [=Halcyon macleayii CC10, T. (Lazulena) macleayii CC10]
             |    |--T. m. macleayii M03
             |    `--T. m. incinctus M03
             `--+--T. ruficollaris BKB15
                `--T. tutus JT12 [incl. *T. sacer CC10]

Todiramphus incertae sedis:
  T. albonotatus JT12
  T. australasia JT12
  T. cinnamominus (Swainson 1821) [=Halcyon cinnamominus] CC10
  T. collaris (Scopoli 1786) [=Alcedo collaris, Sauropatis collaris] W66
  T. diops JT12
  T. enigma JT12
  T. farquhari JT12
  T. funebris JT12
  T. gambieri JT12
  T. godeffroyi JT12
  T. lazuli JT12
  T. nigrocyaneus JT12
  T. occipitalis Blyth 1846 W66
  T. pyrrhopygius JT12
  T. recurvirostris JT12
  T. saurophaga JT12
  T. veneratus JT12

Todiramphus chloris (Boddaert 1783) JT12, WS48 [=Alcedo chloris W66, Halcyon chloris WS48, Sauropatis chloris S89; incl. A. chlorocephalus W66]

Todiramphus sanctus (Vigors & Horsfield 1827) JT12, CC10 [=Halcyon sanctus CC10, *Sauropatis sancta CC10; incl. H. sanctus ramsayi Mathews 1912 WS48, H. westralasianus Campbell 1901 WS48]

Todiramphus sanctus norfolkiensis (Tristram 1885) [=Halcyon norfolkiensis, H. norfolciensis, H. sancta norfolkiensis, Sauropatis sancta norfolkiensis] CC10

Todiramphus sanctus vagans (Lesson 1828) [=Alcedo vagans, Dacelo vagans, Halcyon sancta vagans, Sauropatis sanctus vagans; incl. Dacelo albifrons Peale 1848, Alcedo cyanea Forster in Lichtenstein 1844, Sauropatis sanctus forsteri Mathews & Iredale 1913] CC10

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[D77] Diamond, J. M. 1977. Continental and insular speciation in Pacific land birds. Systematic Zoology 26 (3): 263–268.

[H03] Heads, M. 2003. Ericaceae in Malesia: Vicariance biogeography, terrane tectonics and ecology. Telopea 10 (1): 311–449.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX.—Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2^a, 7: 369–438.

[W66] Walden, A. 1866. Notes on birds collected in Tennasserim and in the Andaman Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 537–556.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Coraciiformes

European bee-eater Merops apiaster, photographed by Vadim Onishchenko.

Belongs within: Coraciimorphae.
Contains: Coracioidea, Alcedines.

The Coraciiformes are a clade of insectivorous or carnivorous birds supported by molecular analysis. Members of this group exhibit syndactyly (fusion) of at least part of the length of the third and fourth toes. They include the Meropidae, bee-eaters, which are slender, colourful birds with long, acute, down-curved bills found in warmer regions of the Old World.

Coraciiformes
    |--+--Primobucco PB15 [Primobucconidae M05]
    |  |    |--*P. mcgrewi Brodkorb 1970 M09
    |  |    |--P. frugilegus Mayr, Mourer-Chauviré & Weldig 2004 M09
    |  |    `--P. perneri Mayr, Mourer-Chauviré & Weldig 2004 M09
    |  `--+--Coracioidea MM-C00
    |     `--Eocoracias Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2000 [Eocoraciidae] MM-C00
    |          `--*E. brachyptera Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2000 MM-C00
    `--Alcediniformes [Alcedinides] M04
         |--Quasisyndactylus Mayr 1998 M04
         |    `--*Q. longibrachis Mayr 1998 M02
         `--+--Alcedines M04
            `--Meropidae [Meropes, Meropides] M04
                 |--Nyctyornis Jardine & Selby 1830 JT12, B94 [Nyctiornithidae]
                 |    |--N. amictus JT12
                 |    `--N. athertoni JT12
                 |--Melittophagus FP64
                 |    |--M. bullockoides FP64
                 |    `--M. bulocki A61
                 `--Merops Linnaeus 1758 M02 (see below for synonymy)
                      |  i. s.: M. aegyptius S66
                      |         M. cafer Linnaeus 1758 L58
                      |         M. cinereus Linnaeus 1758 L58
                      |         M. nubicoides JT12
                      |         M. quinticolor W66
                      |         M. radoboyensis (Meyer 1865) (see below for synonymy) M02
                      |         M. revoilii JT12
                      |         M. savignyi S66
                      |         M. vaillantii S66
                      |--+--M. breweri JT12
                      |  `--+--Meropogon forsteni JT12
                      |     `--+--M. bullockoides JT12
                      |        `--M. bulocki JT12
                      `--+--M. boehmi BKB15
                         `--+--+--+--M. gularis BKB15
                            |  |  `--M. muelleri JT12
                            |  `--+--M. hirundineus JT12
                            |     `--+--M. pusillus BKB15
                            |        `--+--M. oreobates BKB15
                            |           `--M. variegatus BKB15
                            `--+--M. albicollis BKB15
                               `--+--M. malimbicus JT12
                                  `--+--M. nubicus JT12
                                     `--+--+--M. orientalis JT12
                                        |  `--+--M. leschenaulti JT12
                                        |     `--M. viridis Linnaeus 1758 JT12, L58
                                        |          |--M. v. viridis W66
                                        |          `--M. v. ferrugiceps Hodgson 1844 W66
                                        `--+--+--M. apiaster Linnaeus 1758 JT12, L58
                                           |  `--M. ornatus Latham 1901 JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
                                           `--+--M. philippinus JT12
                                              `--+--M. persicus JT12
                                                 `--M. superciliosus JT12

Merops Linnaeus 1758 M02 [incl. Apiaster Brisson 1760 B94, Melittotheres Boie 1828 B94, Phlotrus Reichenbach 1852 B94; Apiasteridae, Apiastriidae, Melittotheridae, Phlotridae]

Merops ornatus Latham 1901 JT12, WS48 [incl. M. ornatus shortridgei Mathews 1912 WS48]

Merops radoboyensis (Meyer 1865) [=Fringilla radoboyensis, Batrachites radoboyensis ms, Pelophilus radoboyensis ms] M02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A61] Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[M04] Mayr, G. 2004. New specimens of Hassiavis laticauda (Aves: Cypselomorphae) and Quasisyndactylus longibrachis (Aves: Alcediniformes) from the Middle Eocene of Messel, Germany. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 252: 23–28.

[M05] Mayr, G. 2005. The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe. Biological Reviews 80: 515–542.

[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.

[MM-C00] Mayr, G., & C. Mourer-Chauviré. 2000. Rollers (Aves: Coraciiformes s.s.) from the Middle Eocene of Messel (Germany) and the Upper Eocene of Quercy (France). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (3): 533–546.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[PB15] Prum, R. O., J. S. Berv, A. Dornburg, D. J. Field, J. P. Townsend, E. M. Lemmon & A. R. Lemmon. 2015. A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature 526: 569–573.

[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.

[W66] Walden, A. 1866. Notes on birds collected in Tennasserim and in the Andaman Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 537–556.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Last updated: 5 August 2019.

Alcedinidae

Oriental dwarf kingfisher Ceyx erithaca, copyright Shantanu Kuveskar.

Belongs within: Alcedines.
Contains: Alcedo.

The Alcedinidae, river kingfishers, are a group of small, brightly coloured kingfishers found in Eurasia, Africa and Australasia. They may be piscivorous or insectivorous, with the bill being black in piscivorous forms and red in insectivorous species. Members include the three-toed kingfishers of the genus Ceyx, in which one of the forward-pointing toes of other genera has mostly been lost (a vestigial fourth toe is present in the Sulawesi dwarf kingfisher C. fallax). Species of Ceyx as currently recognised are found in southern Asia and Australasia. African species previously included in this genus are now classified the genera Ispidina and Corythornis. Ispidina includes the African pygmy kingfisher I. picta and African dwarf kingfisher I. lecontei, both of which have a blue back, rufous underparts, white throat and red bill. Ispidina picta has a blue crown whereas I. lecontei has a rufous crown with a black front. Most species of Corythornis are similarly blue above and rufous below except the Madagascan kingfisher Corythornis madagascariensis which is rufous with white underparts.

<==Alcedinidae [Alcedininae]
    |  i. s.: Caridonax fulgidus JT12
    |         Streptoceryle S18
    |           |--S. alcyon S18
    |           `--S. torquata S18
    |--Ispidina Kaup 1848 BKB15, B94 [Ispidininae]
    |    |--I. lecontei BKB15 [=Ceyx lecontei JT12]
    |    `--I. picta BKB15 [=Ceyx pictus JT12]
    `--+--Corythornis BKB15
       |    |--C. madagascariensis BKB15 [=Ceyx madagascariensis JT12]
       |    `--+--C. vintsioides BKB15 [=Alcedo vintsioides JT12]
       |       `--+--C. cristatus (Pallas 1764) BKB15, S05 (see below for synonymy)
       |          `--C. leucogaster BKB15 [=Alcedo leucogaster JT12]
       `--+--Alcedo BKB15
          `--Ceyx Lacépède 1799 BKB15, B94 [Ceycinae]
               |  i. s.: C. tridactyla S89
               |--C. fallax JT12
               |    |--C. f. fallax R02
               |    `--C. f. sangirensis R02
               `--+--+--C. pusillus BKB15 [=Alcedo pusilla JT12; incl. A. pusilla halmaherae J06]
                  |  |    |--C. p. pusillus M03
                  |  |    |--‘Alcedo’ p. halli M03
                  |  |    `--‘Alcedo’ p. ramsayi M03
                  |  `--+--C. azureus (Latham 1801) BKB15, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
                  |     |    |--C. a. azureus M03
                  |     |    |--‘Alcedo’ a. diemenensis M03
                  |     |    `--‘Alcedo’ a. ruficollaris M03
                  |     `--C. websteri BKB15 [=Alcedo websteri JT12]
                  `--+--C. melanurus JT12
                     `--+--+--C. erithaca JT12
                        |  `--C. rufidorsa JT12
                        `--+--C. lepidus JT12
                           `--+--C. argentatus BKB15 [=Alcedo argentata JT12]
                              `--C. cyanopectus BKB15 [=Alcedo cyanopectus JT12]

Ceyx azureus (Latham 1801) BKB15, WS48 [=Alcedo azurea WS48; incl. Alcyone azurea alisteri Mathews 1912 WS48]

Corythornis cristatus (Pallas 1764) BKB15, S05 [=Alcedo cristata JT12; incl. A. cyanostigma Rüppell 1837 S05]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[J06] Johnstone, R. E. 2006. The birds of Gag Island, Western Papuan islands, Indonesia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 23 (2): 115–132.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[R02] Riley, J. 2002. Population sizes and the status of endemic and restricted-range bird species on Sangihe Island, Indonesia. Bird Conservation International 12: 53–78.

[S05] Steinheimer, F. D. 2005. Eduard Rüppel’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (2): 233–264.

[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Last updated: 5 August 2019.