The Amazon kingfisher (''Chloroceryle amazona'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of "water kingfisher" in

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Cerylinae The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six American species are in this subfamily. These are all specialist fish-eating species, unlike many repre ...

of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

south through Central America to northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved 13 December 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The first formal description of the Amazon kingfisher was by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1790 under the

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 ...

''Alcedo amazona''. The current genus ''Chloroceryle'' was erected by

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...

in 1848. The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

Description

The Amazon kingfisher is about long. Males weigh and females . It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

and its legs and feet are dark gray. Adult males have dark bronzy green upperparts divided by a white collar. They have a white chin and throat, a rich rufous breast with dark green sides, and a white belly with dark green streaks on the side. Adult females lack the rufous breast but the green of the sides extends across the breast almost to its middle. Juvenile males have a buffy rufous breast and both sexes have buff spots on the upperwing

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

and a large yellow patch on their bill.Woodall, P. F. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Amazon Kingfisher (''Chloroceryle amazona''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.amakin1.01 retrieved 13 December 2022

Distribution and habitat

The Amazon kingfisher is found from the Mexican states of

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

south through Central America into Colombia and Venezuela and separately east of the Andes in every South American country except Chile, reaching as far south as central Argentina. It has been recorded as a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 24 July 2022R. Terry Chesser, Richard C. Banks, F. Keith Barker, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Fifty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union ''Check-list of North American Birds''". ''The Auk'' 2011, vol. 128(3):600-613 retrieved 9 August 2022 It inhabits large rivers, both slow- and fast-flowing, and the wooded shores of lakes and freshwater lagoons. It also occasionally occurs in brackish lagoons, mangroves, and tidal estuaries. It favors open landscapes rather than dense forest. In elevation it is mostly found below but occurs as high as in Venezuela.

Behavior

Movement

The Amazon kingfisher is generally believed to be sedentary but there are records of vagrancy.

Feeding

The Amazon kingfisher usually hunts from a perch from which it dives into water for its prey. Occasionally it hovers before diving. Its diet is mostly fish, especially those of family

Characidae Characidae, the characids or characins is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their st ...

, and crustaceans.

Breeding

The Amazon kingfisher's breeding season varies geographically. It is generally in the first half of the year in Central America but has not been detailed elsewhere. Both members of a pair excavate a slightly inclined burrow in a river bank or similar feature; it is typically up to long and has a nest chamber at the end. The clutch size is three or four eggs. Most incubation at night is by the female and during the day by the male. The incubation period is about 22 days and fledging occurs 29 to 30 days after hatch.

Vocalization

The Amazon kingfisher makes a " ud, harsh, repeated 'tek' or 'klek'" and a "staccato 'chrit'" that may be extended into a rattle. It also makes "frog-like" calls. Another vocalization is "an accelerating series of clear notes...'see see see...su su su su'" that is thought to be a greeting or alarm call.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the Amazon kingfisher as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range. Its estimated population of at least a half million mature individuals is, however, believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.

References

External links

Stamps
(for Argentina, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela) with RangeMap

VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q456421

Amazon kingfisher The Amazon kingfisher (''Chloroceryle amazona'') is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to norther ...

Birds of Central America Birds of South America Birds of Brazil Birds of Colombia Birds of Venezuela Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of Trinidad and Tobago Birds of the Guianas Birds of the Pantanal Higher-level bird taxa restricted to the Neotropics