Makira Dwarf-Kingfisher
Ceyx gentianus
A small kingfisher with deep purplish-blue upperparts and clean white underparts, a white neck spot, and bright orange legs. Bill is black. Prefers mature forest, not necessarily near water, often perching low. No other dwarf-kingfisher shares its range. Told from Little Kingfisher by orange legs and lack of blue on chest. Call apparently nearly identical to that of other Melanesian dwarf-kingfishers: a high-pitched, weak repetitive whistle, often given in flight.
Taxonomy
The holotype of Ceyx gentiana Tristram (Ibis, 1879, p. 438, pl. 11.) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection of National Museums Liverpool at World Museum, with accession number NML-VZ T3959. The specimen was collected in Makira Harbour, San Crisobel (Makira), Solomon Islands, on 27 August 1878 by G. E. Richards. The specimen came to the Liverpool national collection via Henry Baker Tristram's collection which was purchased by the museum in 1896.
- Scientific name
- Ceyx gentianus
- Authority
- Tristram, 1879
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Ceyx
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
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