''This article discusses the African dwarf kingfisher, which is distinct from the

Oriental dwarf kingfisher The oriental dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx erithaca''), also known as the black-backed kingfisher or three-toed kingfisher, is a pocket-sized bird in the family Alcedinidae. This tropical kingfisher is a partial migrant that is endemic across much ...

.'' The African dwarf kingfisher (''Ispidina lecontei'') is a species of

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

in the

Alcedininae The river kingfishers or pygmy kingfishers, subfamily Alcedininae, are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers. The river kingfishers are widespread through Africa and east and south Asia as far as Australia, with one species, the common kin ...

subfamily.

Taxonomy

The African dwarf kingfisher was described in 1856 by the American ornithologist

John Cassin John Cassin (September 6, 1813 – January 10, 1869) was an American ornithologist from Pennsylvania. He worked as curator and Vice President at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and focused on the systemic classification of the Acade ...

from a specimen collected by

Paul Du Chaillu Paul Belloni Du Chaillu (July 31, 1831 (disputed)April 29, 1903) was a French-American traveler, zoologist, and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern European outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas, and later t ...

. Cassin introduced the current

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Ispidina lecontei''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

was chosen in honour of the entomologist

John Lawrence LeConte John Lawrence LeConte (May 13, 1825 – November 15, 1883) was an American entomologist of the 19th century, responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxa known in the United States during his lifetime,

. There are two subspecies: * ''I. l. ruficeps'' Hartlaub, 1857 – Sierra Leone to Ghana, west of the

Dahomey gap In West Africa, the Dahomey Gap refers to the portion of the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic that extends all the way to the coast in Benin, Togo, and Ghana, thus separating the forest zone that covers much of the south of the region into two separat ...

in the rainforest. * ''I. l. lecontei'' Cassin, 1856 – south Nigeria to west South Sudan, Uganda and central Democratic Republic of the Congo; central Angola.

Description

This is the world's smallest

with a length of and a weight of .

Distribution

It inhabits African rainforests and is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Uganda.

References

African dwarf kingfisher ''This article discusses the African dwarf kingfisher, which is distinct from the Oriental dwarf kingfisher.'' The African dwarf kingfisher (''Ispidina lecontei'') is a species of kingfisher in the Alcedininae subfamily. Taxonomy The African dw ...

Birds of the African tropical rainforest

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Coraciiformes-stub