The Philippine dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx melanurus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

found in the islands of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

Polillo Islands The Polillo Islands is a group of about 27 islands in the Philippine Sea lying about to the east of the Philippine island of Luzon. It is separated from Luzon Island by the Polillo Strait and forms the northern side of Lamon Bay. The islands are ...

, Catanduanes, Basilan,

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. But it is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy and description

The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is a small mostly orange kingfisher with a red beak and legs, and a white belly. It has a light lilac hue which is more intense in the southern subspecies and has dark blue spotted wings for the northern subspecies. The Philippine kingfisher was formally described by the German naturalist

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 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 melanura''. 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 ...

is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''melanouros'' meaning "with a black tail". The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is now placed in the genus '' Ceyx'' that was introduced by the French naturalist

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

in 1799.

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''C. m. melanurus'' ( Kaup, 1848) –

, Polillo, Alabat and Catanduanes (north Philippines) * ''C. m. samarensis'' Steere, 1890 –

and

(east central Philippines) * ''C. m. mindanensis'' Steere, 1890 –

and Basilan (south Philippines) The subspecies ''C. m. mindanensis'' is sometimes treated as a separate species, the south Philippine dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx mindanensis''), with the nominate and ''samarensis'' classified by the

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

as the north Philippine dwarf kingfisher. The two proposed species are differentiated by color and size: north Philippine dwarf kingfishers have dark blue spotted wings and ears and are slightly smaller than south Philippine dwarf kingfishers, which have a more noticeable lilac hue and are overall more uniform orange. In March 2020 a fledgling of the ''C. m. mindanensis'' subspecies was photographed for the first time by the Robert S. Kennedy Conservation Society led by Miguel David De Leon in Cagayan de Oro.

Habitat and conservation status

It is found in lowland

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

up to 750 meters above sea level. It prefers areas with high rainfall. The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

follows the

thus assesses the North and South subspecies separately. Both species or subspecies have been assessed as vulnerable with the population believed to be on the decline. The Southern subspecies has a lower estimated population of 2,500 to 9,999 mature individuals with the Northern subspecies estimated at 10,000 - 19,999. This species' main threat is

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range. There are currently no targeted conservation plans for the species. It occurs in a few protected areas throughout its range like the

Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park The Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park is the largest protected area of the Philippines covering the northern range of the Sierra Madre mountains of eastern Luzon. The park is located in the eastern part of the province of Isabela in Cagayan Vall ...

, Bataan National Park,

Samar Island Natural Park The Samar Island Natural Park, in Samar, is the largest contiguous tract of old-growth forest in the Philippines. It is the country's largest terrestrial protected area, with an area of . The buffer is spread north to south over the island's three ...

, Mount Kitanglad National Park but protection and enforcement from loggers and hunters is still lax.

References

External links

"How an Eye Surgeon Got a Picture of This Rare Pastel Bird"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q581060 Philippine dwarf kingfisher Endemic birds of the Philippines Philippine dwarf kingfisher Philippine dwarf kingfisher Taxonomy articles created by Polbot