Ceryle
| Pied kingfisher | |
|---|---|
_male_immature.jpg) |
|
| Immature male C. r. rudis Uganda |
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_female.jpg) |
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| female C. r. rudis Gambia |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Alcedinidae |
| Subfamily: | Cerylinae |
| Genus: |
Ceryle F. Boie, 1828 |
| Species: | C. rudis |
| Binomial name | |
|
Ceryle rudis (Linnaeus, 1758) |
|
The pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Its black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish make it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.
The pied kingfisher was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, who noted that it lived in Persia and Egypt. He named it Alcedo rudis. German naturalist Friedrich Boie erected the genus Ceryle in 1828. The pied kingfisher is the only member of the genus. Molecular analysis shows it is an early offshoot of the lineage that gave rise to American kingfishers of the genus Chloroceryle.
This kingfisher is about 17 cm long and is white with a black mask, a white supercilium and black breast bands. The crest is neat and the upperparts are barred in black. Several subspecies are recognized within the broad distribution. The nominate race is found in sub-Saharan Africa, extending into West Asia. A former subspecies syriaca is considered as merely a larger northern bird of the nominate species (following Bergmann's rule). Subspecies leucomelanura is found from Afghanistan east into India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos. The subspecies travancoreensis of the Western Ghats is darker with the white reduced. Subspecies C. r. insignis is found in Hainan and southeastern China and has a much larger bill. Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band.
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
male C. r. leucomelanurus
Karnataka, India
male C. r. rudis
Kazinga Channel, Uganda
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Wikipedia