Megaceryle is a genus of very large kingfishers. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The genus was erected by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. The type species is a subspecies of the crested kingfisher, Megaceryle lugubris guttulata. Megaceryle is from the Ancient Greek megas, "great", and the existing genus Ceryle.
Species
The genus comprises four species:
Genus Megaceryle – Kaup, 1848 – four species
Common name
Scientific name and subspecies
Range
Size and ecology
IUCN status and estimated population
Crested kingfisher Male
Female
Megaceryle lugubris (Temminck, 1834)
Four subspecies
M. l. continentalis (Hartert, 1900)
M. l. guttulata (Stejneger, 1892)
M. l. pallida (Momiyama, 1927)
M. l. lugubris (Temminck, 1834)
northern India, Bangladesh, northern Indochina, Southeast Asia, and Japan
Size:
Habitat:
Diet:
LC
Giant kingfisher Male
Female
Megaceryle maxima (Pallas, 1769)
Two subspecies
M. m. maxima (Pallas, 1769)
M. m. gigantea (Swainson, 1837)
Liberia to northern Angola and western Tanzania, island of Bioko, Senegal, and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa
Size:
Habitat:
Diet:
LC
Ringed kingfisher Male
Female
Megaceryle torquata (Linnaeus, 1766)
Three subspecies
M. t. stictipennis (Lawrence, 1885)
M. t. torquata (Linnaeus, 1766)
M. t. stellata (Meyen, 1834)
Southeastern most Texas in the United States through Central America to Tierra del Fuego in South America
Size:
Habitat:
Diet:
LC
Belted kingfisher Male
Female
Megaceryle alcyon (Linnaeus, 1758)
North America, within Canada, Alaska, and the United...
