American Pygmy Kingfisher
Chloroceryle aenea
Tiny kingfisher of shady forest streams and mangroves. Often darts away when disturbed, but can be confiding if approached quietly and usually perches fairly low over the water. About half of the size of Green Kingfisher, and easily distinguished by rusty underparts and poorly contrasting pale neck collar (bright white on Green Kingfisher). Female has a narrow green breast band, lacking on male.
Identification
The American pygmy kingfisher is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Males weigh 10 to 16 g (0.35 to 0.56 oz) and females 12 to 16 g (0.42 to 0.56 oz). 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 and its legs and feet are pinkish to light gray. Males of the nominate subspecies have a dark glossy green head and upperparts with a golden wash separated by a narrow rufous collar. Their tail is a bluer green. They have black lores with a thin rufous line in front of the eye. Their chin, throat, and most of their underparts are rufous that is deeper on the breast and flanks. The center of their breast and their undertail coverts are white. Adult females are similar with the addition of a dark green band across their upper breast. Juveniles have paler underparts than adults and buffy spots on their wings; males have green-black streaks on their breast and females' breast band is often incomplete. Subspecies C. a. stictoptera has obvious lines of white spots on their secondaries and some white on the rump. The two forms intergrade in central Costa Rica.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the American pygmy kingfisher was by the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 under the binomial name Alcedo aenea. The specific epithet aenea is from the Latin aeneus meaning "of a bronze colour". The current genus Chloroceryle was erected by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848.<p>A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2006 found that the American pygmy kingfisher was a sister species to a clade containing the green-and-rufous kingfisher (C. inda) and the green kingfisher (C. americana).<p>Two subspecies are currently recognized, the nominate C. a. aenea (Pallas, 1764) and C. a. stictoptera (Ridgway, 1884).
- Scientific name
- Chloroceryle aenea
- Authority
- (Pallas, 1764)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Chloroceryle
Range and habitat
Suspecies C. a. stictoptera of American pygmy kingfisher is the more northerly of the two. It is found from the southern Mexican states of Puebla, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Chiapas south through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua to central Costa Rica. The nominate subspecies is found from central Costa Rica (where it overlaps stictoptera) through Panama into Colombia. From there it occurs west of the Andes to central Ecuador and east and south into Venezuela, the Guianas, and most of Amazonian Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. Its range extends slightly into Paraguay and Argentina and also includes Trinidad.<p>The American pygmy kingfisher inhabits dense forest, where it occurs along small streams and rivers, beside pools, in swamps, and along tidal channels in mangroves. It shuns open landscapes. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 2,600 m (8,500 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yellow-billed Blue-Magpie
Urocissa flavirostris
The southwestern counterpart of the Red-billed Blue-Magpie, this colorful long-tailed corvid also forages in noisy flocks. Similar in coloration to Red-billed, but Yellow-billed is paler blue overall, with a small white patch at the back of the crown instead of an extensive white stripe, and a bright yellow bill instead of a scarlet one. Primarily found in Himalayan hill forest, with disjunct populations in northwestern Myanmar and northern Vietnam.
Broad-tailed Paradise-Whydah
Vidua obtusa
Lays its eggs in the nests of Orange-winged Pytilia. The distinctive breeding male has a long, broad tail. Non-breeding males and females are nondescript sparrow-like birds with striped heads and pale underparts. Found in broadleaf woodland, mainly miombo. Most records are of the conspicuous and easily identified breeding-plumaged males. Mimics the inconspicuous vocalizations of its host Orange-winged Pytilia. Breeding male is similar to Eastern Paradise-Whydah, but has a shorter and broader tail, and darker buff and rufous coloration on the nape and breast. Non-breeding male and female are very similar to Eastern, but have a paler bill and lack strong “comma” marks on the cheek. Also similar to female and non-breeding male indigobirds, but larger.
Amazonian Antpitta
Myrmothera berlepschi
Lowland rainforest antpitta of secondary growth. Typical antpitta shape, with long legs, almost no tail, and a plump body. Light brown above, white with diffuse brown streaking below, and a tawny wash on the face and breast. Lighter and more orangey than the similar Thrush-like Antpitta, which prefers more mature forest habitat. Does not have a strong facial pattern like other lowland antpittas. Secretive and difficult to see; listen for its song, a series of 3-5 loud “coop” notes.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.