Shining-blue kingfisher

The shining-blue kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys) is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is found in Equatorial Africa.

Shining-blue kingfisher
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Alcedininae
Genus: Alcedo
Species:
A. quadribrachys
Binomial name
Alcedo quadribrachys
Bonaparte, 1850

The shining-blue kingfisher was described of by the French ornithologist Charles Lucian Bonaparte in 1850 and given its current binomial name Alcedo quadribrachys.[2][3] The name Alcedo is the Latin word for a "kingfisher". The specific epithet quadribrachys is from the Latin quadri- for "four" and brachium meaning "arms" or in this case "toes".[4] The shining-blue kingfisher is one of seven species in the genus Alcedo and is most closely related to the half-collared kingfisher (Alcedo semitorquata).[5][6]

There are two subspecies:[5]

  • A. q. quadribrachys Bonaparte, 1850 – Senegal and Gambia to west central Nigeria
  • A. q. guentheri Sharpe, 1892 – southern Nigeria to Kenya, northwest Zambia and north Angola
Subspecies A. q. quadribrachys (top) and A. q. guentheri (bottom); illustration by Keulemans, 1892

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Alcedo quadribrachys". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22683037A92974387. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683037A92974387.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 175.
  3. Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1850). Conspectus Generum Avium (in Latin). Vol. 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 158.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 40, 328. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  6. Andersen, M.J.; McCullough, J.M.; Mauck III, W.M.; Smith, B.T.; Moyle, R.G. (2017). "A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (2): 1–13. doi:10.1111/jbi.13139.
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