? Kingfishers
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Coraciiformes Suborder: Alcedines
Families
Alcedinidae Halcyonidae Cerylidae

Kingfishers are birds of the three families Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are about 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long pointed bills that are sharp, short legs, and stubby tails. They are found throughout the world. Illustration of Belted Kingfisher, by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 1896. ... Binomial name Ceryle alcyon (Linnaeus, 1758) The Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) is a large, conspicuous and noisy kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Placozoa (trichoplax) Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Many - see section below. ... Families Alcedinidae Halcyonidae Cerylidae Brachypteraciidae Coraciidae Leptosomidae Meropidae Momotidae Todidae Bucerotidae Upupidae Phoeniculidae The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colourful near passerine birds including the kingfishers, the Hoopoe, the bee-eaters, the rollers, and the hornbills. ... Genera Alcedo Ceyx Ispidina The river kingfishers or Alcedinidae, are one of the three families of bird in the kingfisher group. ... Genera Actenoides Carydonax Cittura Clytoceyx Halcyon Lacedo Melidora Pelargopsis Tanysiptera Dacelo Syma Todirhamphus The tree kingfishers or wood kingfishers, family Halcyonidae, are the most numerous of the three families of birds in the kingfisher group. ... Genera Megaceryle Ceryle Chloroceryle The water kingfishers or Cerylidae are one of the three families of bird in the kingfisher group, and are also known as the belted kingfishers or cerylid kingfishers. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... Genera Alcedo Ceyx Ispidina The river kingfishers or Alcedinidae, are one of the three families of bird in the kingfisher group. ... Genera Actenoides Carydonax Cittura Clytoceyx Halcyon Lacedo Melidora Pelargopsis Tanysiptera Dacelo Syma Todirhamphus The tree kingfishers or wood kingfishers, family Halcyonidae, are the most numerous of the three families of birds in the kingfisher group. ... Genera Megaceryle Ceryle Chloroceryle The water kingfishers or Cerylidae are one of the three families of bird in the kingfisher group, and are also known as the belted kingfishers or cerylid kingfishers. ...

The taxonomy of the three families is complex and rather controversial. Although commonly assigned to the order Coraciiformes, from this level down confusion sets in. Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Families Alcedinidae Halcyonidae Cerylidae Brachypteraciidae Coraciidae Leptosomidae Meropidae Momotidae Todidae Bucerotidae Upupidae Phoeniculidae The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colourful near passerine birds including the kingfishers, the Hoopoe, the bee-eaters, the rollers, and the hornbills. ...

The kingfishers were traditionally treated as one family, Alcedinidae with three subfamilies, but following the 1990s revolution in bird taxonomy, the three former subfamilies are now usually elevated to familial level; a move supported by chromosome and DNA-DNA hybridisation studies, but challenged on the grounds that all three groups are monophyletic with respect to the other Coraciiformes; which leads to them being grouped as the suborder Alcedines. The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird taxonomy based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. ... In phylogenetics, a group is monophyletic (Greek: of one stem) if all organisms in that group are known to have developed from a common ancestral form, and all descendants of that form are included in the group. ... Families Alcedinidae Halcyonidae Cerylidae Brachypteraciidae Coraciidae Leptosomidae Meropidae Momotidae Todidae Bucerotidae Upupidae Phoeniculidae The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colourful near passerine birds including the kingfishers, the Hoopoe, the bee-eaters, the rollers, and the hornbills. ...

The tree kingfishers have been previously given the familial name Dacelonidae but Halcyonidae has priority. This group derives from a very ancient divergence from the ancestral stock.

Kingfishers live in both woodland and wetland habitats. The Laughing Kookaburra, at 45 cm the world's largest kingfisher, is a woodland bird, while the European Kingfisher Alcedo atthis is always found near fresh water. Species Dacelo gaudichaud Dacelo leachii Dacelo novaeguineae Dacelo tyro Kookaburras are very large terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. ... Binomial name Alcedo atthis (Linnaeus, 1758) The European Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis is widely distributed in Europe, Africa and Asia. ...

Kingfishers that live near water hunt small fish by diving. They also eat crayfish, frogs, and insects. Wood kingfishers eat reptiles. Kingfishers of all three families beat their prey to death, either by whipping it against a tree or by dropping it on a stone. Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus: the most abundant species of fish in the world. ... Families Astacoidea   Astacidae   Cambaridae Parastacoidea   Parastacidae Crayfish, sometimes called crawfish, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are closely related. ... This is the current Article Improvement Drive collaboration! CAST YOUR VOTE for next weeks article For other uses, see Frog (disambiguation). ... Classes & Orders Subclass:Apterygota Orders Archaeognatha (Bristletails) Thysanura (Silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass:Pterygota Infraclass: Paleoptera (paraphyletic) Orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Diaphanopterodea - extinct Protodonata - extinct Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass: Neoptera Superorder: Exopterygota Orders Caloneroptera - extinct Titanoptera - extinct Protorthoptera - extinct Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera... Orders See text. ...

The Old World tropics and Australasia are the core area for this group. Europe and North America north of Mexico are very poorly represented with only one common kingfisher (European and Belted Kingfishers respectively), and a couple of uncommon or very local species each: (Ringed Kingfisher and Green Kingfisher in south Texas, Pied Kingfisher and White-breasted Kingfisher in SE Europe). The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus: Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively known as Africa-Eurasia) and the surrounding islands. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Oceania. ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Binomial name Alcedo atthis (Linnaeus, 1758) The European Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis is widely distributed in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... Binomial name Ceryle alcyon (Linnaeus, 1758) The Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) is a large, conspicuous and noisy kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. ... Binomial name Chloroceryle americana (Gmelin, 1788) The Green Kingfisher, Chloroceryle americana, is a resident breeding bird which occurs from southern Texas in the USA south through Central and South Americal to central Argentina. ... Binomial name Ceryle rudis (Linnaeus, 1758) The Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a kingfisher in the near passerine bird family Cerylidae, the water kingfishers. ... Binomial name Halcyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758) The White-throated Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher or Smyrna Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis, is a tree kingfisher which is widely distributed in south Asia from Turkey east to the Philippines. ...

Even tropical South America has only five species plus wintering Belted Kingfisher. In comparison, the tiny African country of The Gambia has eight resident species in its 120 by 20 mile area. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... // Long-distance land bird migration Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern hemisphere. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ...

The six species occurring in the Americas are four closely related green kingfishers in the genus Chloroceryle and two large crested kingfishers in the genus Megaceryle, suggesting that the sparse representaion in the western hemisphere evolved from just one or two original colonising species. Genera Megaceryle Ceryle Chloroceryle The water kingfishers or Cerylidae are one of the three families of bird in the kingfisher group, and are also known as the belted kingfishers or cerylid kingfishers. ... Species Megaceryle is a genus of very large kingfishers. ... A speculative phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. ...